Lovegame
by moneybeet
Summary: Every night she goes about her business ignorant to the man who watches her from her window. She doesn't understand what is coming. She couldn't know the horrors he would subject her to in the name of fascination. E/B, DARK. Nom for Immortal Sin Awards
1. Chapter 1

He was angry.

She had dared to cover herself with a blanket and he wanted to rush in and rip it off of her body. He wanted to be the one to warm her, to smother her curves with the flat angles and lines of his own form. He wanted to be warmed by her as he leaned in to her succulent flesh and caressed and laved his tongue over every pulse point. She would be receptive, there would not be a protest as he caressed and teased as he leaned in to consume her precious lifeblood, she would understand. Even if she protested, even if she attempted to cry out in help, even if – heaven or hell help her – to resist, her blood would still be his. _She will try,_ he thought, and the very conjuring in his mind of the possibility made him smile.

Foolishly, he noted, she had left her window open again. Only a screen was between her and the observer. She believed by being on the second story she was somehow immune to any kind of kidnapping or in home invasion. He had simply heard as much in her father's thoughts. Her father ignorantly believed his daughter, allowing her to keep her windows open under the guise that yes, this was a small town and the worst crime in these parts was a small theft by some petty teenage boys who were sentenced to nothing more than probation. He also believed that because he was the Chief of Police in these parts, no criminal would dare to step on his property. This thought had also made him smirk in appreciation for the ignorance of the human mind. A simple gun would not stop him. The threat of a badge, a dog, a gun – it was all moot. There was no stopping him when his mind was set on a goal.

He didn't care about right or wrong. He didn't fear a God or a higher power or desire a redeeming for his sins. His life, his existence was a curse. A joke. A play on any foolish attempt religion tried to place on the value of life or any promises it held in a life after death. His being had become something of a sweet irony. He could not sleep or eat, die or breathe, cry or possess a heartbeat. It had been a long hundred years. He knew not the sweet embrace or want of love, and he did not need it. He only had needed one thing to survive: blood.

Somewhere in these years, he had lost himself to the insanity of the hunt. To the thrill of the chase, that feeling of the wind bending to his body as he sought out his prey. To the feeling of flesh under his fingertips as he tightened them, tighter, tighter, _tighter_ _still_ until the skin and muscle and veins gave away. To the sweet smell of fear as his prey realized what was happening, as they felt his strength and knew there was no possibility of escape. If they ran, he would catch them. If the cried out, he would silence them. If they struggled, he would destroy them. It was so simple it was almost painful. His favorite moment was the sweet sound of the flesh ripping under his razor sharp teeth. They usually struggled then too, even though by this point they knew their short lives had come to a gruesome finale. His lips would press the wound, showing a slight respect to the skin as he would bite again, taking pieces of sinew and muscle into his mouth. He would spit the bits out, as he only needed what was now freely flowing from the gaping wound he created. Then he would drink deeply of the nourishment he needed to survive. He would drink until the blood was emptied from every capillary, the thrill and desire he felt increasing the more he drank.

The mere memory of his last hunt caused his fists to clench. His nostrils flared as a particularly strong waft of her sweet smell drifted down to him. Coupled with his thoughts that had drifted back to his last kill and her delicious aroma, he felt the leash on his control waining. Did this girl never sleep? Would he be doomed to wait out here until daybreak?

He wanted to observe her more closely. Even with his hawk like vision, he was not as close as he desired. He could see her now, despite well past three in the morning, actively moving about her tiny bedroom. She appeared to be looking at her bookshelf in the pursuit of something new to read. He noticed she was a voracious reader, devouring almost anything that she could come across. He had seen her read Shakespeare, Bronte, Austen, Emerson, Thoreau, and several other classics. Today she had decided on rereading _Wuthering Heights_ though she had read it at least twice since he had started his observations of her.

Already, she was back in that blanket of hers and on her rarely-used bed. It appeared his little subject suffered from the same insomnia he was condemned to endure for the rest of his existence. Rather than regain her energy in sleep, she would remain awake until the wee hours of the morning reading, writing, or typing away on her little black laptop. He wondered what she was writing about. Did she really have that much to say? Currently she was absorbed in what she was reading, completely oblivious to the outside world. He wanted to laugh out loud at her innocence, her ignorance. He wanted to tear the flimsy paperback from her fingertips and subsequently rip into her youthful flesh. His patience was being tested as he sat in the depths of the night. His eyes dilated darker when he saw the blanket had slipped to expose the creamy expanse of her bare shoulder. A growl escaped from his lips at the thought of all that pliable skin begging to be worshiped. Begging to have him run his teeth over and lave with his tongue as he tormented her again and again. He briefly closed his eyes in imagination.

Did she knew what type of game she was playing with him? He supposed if he truly desired he could snatch her from her childhood bedroom, right under the nose of her foolish father. It would be easy. Too easy. Though he tired of their game of cat and mouse, he had a plan. He had worked long and diligently on his scheme to make this unsuspecting human his toy and he intended on honoring it.

In the end, she would plead for him. She would plead for death. She would cry for the release it would provide. She would be his. He looked up into the window again. Immediately he noticed she had finally succumbed to slumber, form on the bed with her blanket half on and half off of her body. Her book was dropped on the hardwood floor next to the bed, spine upwards with the pages obscurely crushed underneath it.

With one swift movement, he was climbing though her window and inside her room. He made his way over to the crumpled book, smiling as he saw her chest moving up and down in deep breaths as she slept. He reached out with deft fingers and put two of them to her exposed throat, revealing her pulse. She did not stir. He closed his eyes, savoring the smell and the feel of her heartbeat. She was so fragile. A little more pressure and her existence would be snuffed from this forsaken world. It would be so simple.

_For now,_ he thought as he leaned down to pick up the forgotten novel, _I will play with my toy. _

_---------------------_

_Hi everyone! Welcome to my latest work in progress...I've been contemplating whether I should write something for the _Twilight _fandom for a while, and decided to go ahead and give it my best shot. I know there are a lot of stories out there, and I want to make it clear that I have NO intention of copying any other author's work out there. The plot for this story is straight from my twisted little mind where I love to work with darker themes and elements. I know the characters will be slightly OOC, but this is so I can twist them to fit my little plot line. I also happen to like a darker version of Edward. If this isn't your cup of tea, please stop reading! Things will only get worse from here...his obsession will get darker and uglier as the story unfolds. _

_With all that said, I also don't own anything related to _Twilight_, so please don't sue. Just writing for fun. _

_I hope you all enjoyed, and the next chapter should be up soon. _

_-moneybeet _


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry this took a little bit. I kept going back and forth about making this chapter 3 and then writing a completely new second chapter. In the end, I decided I like this much better than the new stuff. (Plus it was a little too...dirty...for so early on in the story.) Enjoy!**

**----------**

Back to the dull task at hand.

It was Monday morning in the sleepy town of Forks, and the game had begun. He was playing as a new student at the high school with the knowledge that _she_ attended here. The cover story he had constructed was not important, so long as it was believed by all those around him. Because they were infinitely naive, they swallowed the story with ease and welcoming remarks and allowed him to go along his way. Of course he could have merely watched from afar as she went to her English and Spanish and Gym and all that unimportant, menial nonsense. However, he wanted to get as close as possible. He wanted to know how she thinks, how she communicates, who her friends and her enemies were. This was so much better.

This way when the time arrived, he possessed leverage.

Though he had been feasting on human blood for a long while, he knew his iron clad control over his more _delicate tastes_ would keep these people from becoming part of a massacre. One girl though was bound to test all of his self control without even realizing it. She was in five out of his six courses and he would never be farther than a few paces from her in the confines of the small classrooms.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of the school bell ringing. It was time to head to one of those cramped rooms where he would encounter the object of his desire for the first time. He gracefully opened the door of his silver Volvo and got out, swinging the leather book bag over his shoulder. As soon as he was in the fresh air, he was accosted with the disgusting thoughts of the humans around him.

Most of the girls where staring at him. Their thoughts were blatantly sexual in nature as they focused in on his lips and body and he had to repress a repulsed shudder. He was tempted to rip out the throats of the girls closest to him as he entered the narrow hallway. The girls' thoughts were mainly focused on self-centered worries of his opinion of their looks but he did not care. All he could smell now was _her._

His hand reached out and opened the door. Immediately he was assaulted with the sweet smell of freesias and the appealing sound of twenty human heartbeats in various stages of palpitation.

Her gaze was in her hands again, which were currently occupied with a different novel this time. He glanced between her fingertips with his spectacular vision and made out the title easily: _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_.

_How curious, _he thought as a smile graced his features. _She obviously does not realize how perilously close she is to falling down a rabbit hole of her own. _He swiftly swept into a nearby desk, refusing to let his gaze leave the girl's face. He wanted her to notice him. _That's it, _he silently coached her. _Look at ME. _As though by some unseen force, she looked up from her book and glanced around the room once.

She twisted in her chair to glance behind her and was met with a dark pair of eyes.

Black as night, they held her attention easily. She pondered silently if she had ever encountered a pair of eyes so vacuous and deep. She knew he was staring. It felt as though there was an unspoken challenge in the air. Daring her to make a move.

After several moments, she flushed red and her gaze dropped back to the book in her hands.

_Oh little one, _he thought, _so much I will teach you. Your blush makes me want to devour you whole. _The leash on his control was straining as he tightened his hands into fists. Thoughts of massacring her classmates while she helplessly watched flickered through his mind. She would watch, he would be sure of it. He knew she was far too weak to stomach the gore she would witness, so she would cry and vomit and attempt to expel her horror as best she knew how. He would make her watch as he ripped out the throats of her male peers first.

At this moment, he was trying his best to ignore the foul thoughts several boys were having about her. It gave him great satisfaction to imagine their suffering at his hand and the silence their deaths would provide in his thoughts. He would kill them all for a moment of silence. When he finally came to his toy, he would force her to drink in the gore of her classmates. She would look so beautiful with her lips drenched in red and the tears in her eyes. The fantasy was so appealing to the monster inside him that he resolved it would come to pass in one way or another. She will taste human blood, he would be sure of it.

While he was lost in his musings and planning, the class had begun. He had also not removed his gaze from the girl with the brown eyes. It was obvious she was well aware he was still looking at her, but she was trying to focus on the lesson the teacher was giving up front. He wanted her to look at him again.

The rest of the class period ended without meeting her eyes again. She hadn't glanced at him once since their initial contact at the beginning of the class. He mimicked the movements of his classmates and put his book and notebook back into his bag and put it on his back once again.

She was doing the same as he approached her desk. He tried to sound nervous for her benefit.

"Hello, I'm new here," he greeted her in a rich tenor.

She looked up from the struggle she was having fitting two texts into her too-crowded backpack. "Yes, I didn't recognize you." It was apparent she was looking for more information from the stranger standing next to her desk.

He put out a hand. She looked at it skeptically as he continued, "My name is Edward Cullen. And you are...?"

She flushed slightly as she put her hand in his. He already knew her thoughts were silent to him, but the blush was very telltale of her attraction to him. At this proximity her blood swarmed his thoughts with its delicate pulse._ She has no idea. She has no idea what her pulse does to me._ She smelt even more delectable in close proximity.

"I'm Isabella," she replied and corrected herself in the same breath, "Bella."

He shook her hand gently and resisted the urge to yank her into his arms. _Later, later, _he reminded himself. _Plenty of time to play with her later. _

"Bella..." he mused, "It suits you."

Her cheeks flushed deeper red at his comment. "It's nice to meet you, Edward. How long have you been in Forks?"

He smirked as he considered his answer. It would be more lies than truth. "Only about a week or so. I've been getting settled in my new home with my family." It was true he was in a new home, but not that he had a family. He had abandoned his sire and any potential family a while ago.

She slung her bag over her frail shoulders, easily catching her long brown locks under the straps. One of her hands went to pull her hair free but he stopped her. "No," he murmured, "Allow me, Bella." Her hands fell to her sides.

His hands swept under the straps of the backpack, one lifting the right strap and the other gently removing the trapped locks. He repeated the motion with the left side as well and couldn't help but trace the ends with his fingertips and give a little tug. _Not yet, _his control reminded him. The combination of the softness of her hair and the strength of her scent made him want to groan out loud.

She turned her head to look at him with curiosity in her eyes.

He supposed he had forgotten the human necessity for endless chatter and offered up a simple, "All finished."

She still looked a little puzzled, but shook her head. Her hair fell around her shoulders in simple brunette waves. "Thank you." At the lack of his movement to leave the classroom, she pointed at the door. "Um, I actually have another class to get to..."

He smiled at her. "Yes, of course." He made to get out of her way, still looking at her form as she headed for the doorway. She was about to go over the threshold and join the crowds of other children when he was again at her side.

"And Bella," he said once he reached her, " I think you forgot this." He put something in her hands and proceeded out the door past her and into the crowded hallways. She watched mesmerized as his bronze locks blended into the sea of students until he was out of her sight.

Slightly confused at her puzzling conversation with this strange new boy, she looked both ways down the hallway as though she expected him to come out of nowhere to continue their strange exchange.

_What did she forget?_ She thought as she looked backwards at the desk she had vacated. Its surface was clean of any books or papers she may have left behind when she was talking to the new boy. _Edward, _she corrected herself.

As though she was struck from her thoughts, she remembered he had handed her something before he departed. Her gaze focused on the thing that he had pressed into her right hand just as he disappeared into the rest of the school. When she turned it over in her hands, she almost dropped it in surprise.

It was her very beat up, very well loved – and very missing copy of _Wuthering Heights. _

Who the hell was Edward Cullen?

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_Hurray, chapter 2! Hmmm....Edward is awful, toying with her like this. _

_To answer any potential questions about the rest of the Cullens, I'm not sure they will actually have a part in this story. I have a couple of chapters planned out but they don't have everybody else in them. I am leaning more toward a focus on Edward and Bella and I feel like the family might take away from the intensity of the [ahem] situation at hand. I don't want Edward to have any kind of moral compass, so the family will probably only be mentioned in passing. _

_Until next time, _

_moneybeet_

_PS: I own nothing. My only property is this sick little plot I'm weaving together. Just having some fun._


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **Hello all! Sorry for the slight delay. I have been back at school, so that has consumed a considerable amount of time. Have no fear, I plan on continuing to work on this story.

Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed/put the story on alert/favorite. THANK YOU! I'm really, really excited you want to keep reading!

I own nothing, by the way. Just enjoying weaving my twisted little web.

Please don't sue.

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He had been in nearly every class she had.

Imagine Bella's surprise to discover the bronze-haired boy in her next class, only minutes after he had stunned her into complete silence. As she had entered the room, his handsome face had broken into a wide smile. She almost tripped at the sight.

It wasn't friendly. It was completely unnerving – his lips curled back just enough to expose a full, perfect set of teeth. It was cold, teasing...malicious.

The chatter of her classmates drifted into a dull murmur at the back of her mind as her world centered in on the boy sitting a desk away. He was stunning – despite the dark smile marring his features.

She felt a little weak in the knees, to be honest.

He knew exactly how to tug the strings in his favor and keep her guessing. She tried to open her mouth once, then twice to say something, but was not successful. The look in his eyes...the intensity was burning a hole through her chest. Her mind was revolving through the potential emotions he was trying to convey: annoyance, anger, sadness, frustration...she couldn't settle on a specific one.

Her own angry thoughts were running through her subconscious. How had he managed to find her lost copy of _Wuthering Heights_? By this point, it had been missing for several weeks. She had diligently searched throughout the house before giving up entirely. She had initially deemed it another victim to her habit of putting books down everywhere.

Bella was torn. Part of her demanded an answer now – why he had it, how he had known it belonged to her, and so on. Another part of her was nervous. The thought of having to confront him, especially since he was keen to unnerving her only with his gaze, made her shudder.

Though she couldn't decide on how to confront him, she would find a way to figure out this Edward Cullen.

She had stumbled to her seat as she regained her senses, even though he continued to stare unabashedly at her. Never in her whole life had she wanted more than anything to fire off a witty comment or snappy retort than right now. As she tried to force her mouth to form the words, they wouldn't come. He had effectively stunned her into temporary silence.

Finally, she felt the weight of his stare leave her form. She turned her head slightly to examine him in her peripheral vision and noticed his attention had turned to the teacher at the front of the classroom. Though she thought she had been sly, he tilted his head in her direction and gave her a subtle glare.

Bella refocused up front.

This pattern had repeated itself throughout her entire school day. He was in four of her five courses, and each time he met her with the same malicious smile. The fourth time it had happened, his lips stretched so widely over those perfect teeth that it could have sliced his face into two parts.

This fourth and final time was unique though, in that he had talked to her once again.

She had been sitting at her desk and paying attention to the lecture the teacher was providing about Shakespeare when he did it. Conveniently he had been placed in the only open desk in the room – which happened to be directly next to her. Midway through a discussion about Shakespeare's sonnets, he reached one long arm over to her desk and rested his perfect hand on its surface. He leaned some of his weight into the limb as he stretched over just enough to near her ear.

At his proximity, Bella struggled between warring desires to move away and draw closer. He smelt so delicious to her...maybe a sweet earthy smell mixed with something masculine? She couldn't quite place it. Her body hummed as his perfect lips neared her ear, his jaw slightly scraping the side of her cheek, his hair soft against hers where they gently touched.

Softly, so softly, he opened his mouth and those velvet lips of his uttered a warning, "You will be _mine_."

Her eyes widened in surprise and a little bit of fear at the coldness in his tone. _His?! _Her outraged thoughts demanded. She turned towards his face to snap at him, but he surprised her again.

His mouth moved closer to her ear to cut her off and he nipped the lobe. The movement was so quick and so slight that the other students around them didn't notice.

Her face flushed for the umpteenth time that day as she pushed her chair as far away from Edward as she could manage without making her discomfort blatantly obvious. To make a physical barrier between them, she bent her left arm at the elbow and subtlety covered the left side of her face with her hand. Though her neck started to feel stiff at the holding this position for the rest of the class, the discomfort was worth it.

As the bell rang, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze at the feeling of a cold palm burning through her thin sweater and t-shirt. Instead of flinching away from the touch, she tilted her head to look up at whom she could only assume would be Edward.

Heart thumping in her chest.

She looked into blue eyes this time.

It wasn't him.

It was the overtly friendly, overtly oblivious, yet persistent Mike Newton.

Bella's body felt slightly detached from her mind as she flinched away from her classmate in more than surprise. She couldn't figure out exactly why Mike didn't know when enough was enough. Though she had only been living in Forks a month or two and had rejected him repeatedly, he had adamantly refused to quit. Many girls thought his pursuit of her was endearing, but she just found it frustrating. The people here – the boys here – they bored her.

She started to open her mouth to get rid of Mike when he cut her off, "Hi Bella! I was wondering if you wanted to work with me on the class project."

He then promptly launched into a long description of his idea, to which she hardly paid any attention.

In obvious disregard to his feelings, she stood rigidly and rolled her shoulders to dislodge his hand."Mike, I really need to get going." She tried to screw her facial features into a look of regret but it just came out as a grimace.

"Okay Bella, see you later!" he replied. She moved quickly out of his reach and buttoned her coat as she slipped out the door. It was raining again. With a sigh, Bella headed toward her beat up truck. Despite being old enough to be the grandfather to several of the cars in the lot, it really was the best gift she had ever received. Her father, Charlie, had been embarrassed to see exactly how much she enjoyed the truck.

The sky was gray and miserable as she looked up into the clouds. She didn't know what she was looking for – the sky was perpetually covered with angry rainclouds. It was something she used to do all the time in Arizona. The feeling of the sun kissing her face was incomparable to any other sensation she had ever felt. Well, perhaps until now. Her thoughts drifted to earlier in the day...when she had met Edward's black eyes in her first class of the day. Even the remembrance of his focus on her caused her to break out in goosebumps. She remembered his lean fingers as they easily lifted the straps of her backpack and freed her long hair. It was a strange contrast even under the fluorescents. It looked like the purest marble wrapped in rich chocolate silk. He had tugged on her strands, which made her want to both slap him and moan in pleasure.

The feeling of the rain on her face made her break away from the memories. Almost embarrassed, she pulled her keys from her jacket pocket and walked briskly to her truck. She unlocked the door easily and slid into the cab to get out of the downpour.

She inserted the key into the ignition and the truck roared to life. Even after this time, it still startled her.

It took no time at all for her to make it back to her house. She quickly exited the truck, only to have something flutter out behind her on to the soaked driveway. Figuring it was a receipt, Bella turned and leaned down to pick it up.

It was no receipt.

In unfamiliar, smudged handwriting it said simply, "Mine."

- - - -

Okay, I'm going to be very bad and end it there. This chapter was a major source of frustration for me. This is an exercise in subtlety, I assure you. The details will come back again, especially when Bella starts to piece together what exactly is happening to her. For now, she is going to remain in the dark. Confused but not oblivious.

Thank you (again and again) for reading! Please let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Note:** Hello again everyone! I would like to take a moment to thank my readers and reviewers! What a huge compliment to hear that not only are you reading these chapters, but that you like them! (I'm actually very relieved that no one has called me a psycho yet. )

There were several questions posed about Mike and how Edward would feel regarding Mike's interaction with Bella at the end of the last chapter. Hopefully this next part will satisfy your curiosity. Rest assured, his actions (and Edward's _lack_ of a reaction) will be explained.

Also, I own nothing. My plot is my own warped creation. Enjoy.

VERY DARK. Warning. DARK.

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The night was dark again and he tilted his face toward the sky to bathe it in moonlight. His features stood out in the sharp angle of his jaw, the raw cut of his forehead, the curve of his nose. Long lashes framed closed lids as he curved his torso upwards as though to meet the moonlight peeking through the clouds. He felt alive.

A house stood before him, surrounded by tall trees and framed by a driveway. The trees swayed angrily under the force of the breeze, almost as though they were chiding him: _let go, get away,_ they chanted. His eyes remained closed despite the weather around him. Despite the protest of nature.

Edward cared nothing about nature. To him, it was no more important that religion or faith or karma. All that mattered was here. Now. A fluttering heartbeat called to him above the roar of the wind or the penetrating rays of the moon. He didn't care about etiquette or some false social rule which made his standing on some human's lawn in the dead of night inappropriate. He was here. His plan was coming together so carefully, though his restraint was waining.

Every hour was painful for him. He wanted to leap through that window and make good on all of his desires. He wanted to rip her from her home and take her to the woods and destroy her fragile innocence. He wanted to make this woman his in every way. He wanted to drain her dry, her soft warm throat against his lips. He wanted to see the fear in her eyes and hear her beg for her life. He wanted to see the look in her eyes as she realized a trap was closing around her.

She had to at least be partially on to him by now. His excitement had driven him to do things he was originally saving for later. When he had skimmed her warm jaw with his, touched his teeth to her earlobe, it took every ounce of his control to prevent from taking her right there. It had felt so good.

With a graceful leap, he scaled the tree next to her window and settled into the branches. His eyes settled on her. She was at her desk again, writing something. She was still wearing her clothes from earlier and was bent over a textbook. He watched her move her long hair from one shoulder to the other to prevent it from spilling on to the notebook she was making little scribbles in. It wouldn't be long before she decided to go to sleep. He had been observing her for a while, so he knew that after an hour or two of puttering about her room, she would fall asleep wrapped up in the same blanket every night.

Edward wondered if she was thinking about him right now. _Mmmm, I hope so,_ he thought to himself. _I want her to be thinking about my breath warming her ear. How I have told her she will be __mine. To realize I am observing her every movement. _

His mind drifted back to that last class he had with her. Bella. She had been so endearingly embarrassed to see him again. The memory of her blush, followed by her anger and resentment had been startling. She looked as though she wanted to call him out on his behavior directly, yet she resisted. He had loved being in close proximity to her. His second favorite moment of the class was at the very end when she had almost jumped a foot in her chair.

Being that his mind was consistently in motion, he easily played every piece on the board once. The most recent pawn for his plan had been a boy named Mike Newton. Newton's thoughts were focused on Bella nearly every time he had the misfortune of hearing them. He fancied himself in love with her. The first time Edward heard those thoughts proclaiming love for his Bella, he had to hold back a snarl. However, his feelings made Mike easily vulnerable to a little suggestion.

Before the class had begun, he had smoothly made his way over to Newton's desk and asked him to provide a favor for some information about Bella. Edward asked the human boy if he would mind sitting by the open window near the back. It had been so simple. Mike had fallen for the trick easily, sitting by the window the entire period, shivering at the cold wisps of wind that would creep into the already cool room. In return, Edward told Newton that Bella wanted to work with him on the class project and to approach her at the end of the class. It just so happened that Mike had both approached her from behind and placed his now-freezing hand on her shoulder.

At the feel of a cold hand on her shoulder, she had jumped in her chair. He felt a dark smile cross his features as he watched her expression change from something indescribable to annoyance as she realized it was Newton. He knew she had been hoping it was him. Her heartbeat had easily explained what her face could not.

Though he had not enjoyed watching the human boy take her attention away from him or touch her, it had been amusing to see the effect he was having on her already. One day had already made her his. The key was forcing her to both realize and understand it. She would be his. He was moving his pieces in to prepare for the inevitable checkmate. He had also gleaned much amusement from her reaction to his little note. He wondered if she had received his other little letter for her yet. Oh how he hoped she already had read it! Her taste for true literature would ensure she understood his message.

Speaking of, she had shut down her computer and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. She picked up that beloved book from her bedside table and turned it over and over in her hands. He watched her open it to the back cover, and he knew she was looking for the tiny little stamp she placed in the upper right hand corner there to identify all of her books. She relaxed a little but her shoulders visibly hunched slightly anyway.

His Bella flipped slowly through the pages from the back of the book to the front. She held it out a little ways away from her and flipped through it again, this time from the beginning to the end. He saw the look of surprise in her eyes as she noticed pen marks on one of the pages.

He felt a surge of excitement as she turned back to the marked page. She was on the dedication page, he knew. He closed his eyes as he remembered the words he had written to her: _But love, hate on, for now I know thy mind. _It only took him a fraction of a second to recall the phrase. When he had opened his eyes, he had not missed her response. She was sitting on her bed and mouthing the words to herself.

The wet sound of her heartbeat had increased in rate. He wanted to drown in her fear. _Yes, _he chided her in his mind, _Soon my pet. Soon. _

In the bedroom, Bella had put a hand over her heart to try and calm its rapid beating. She was gasping with the effort it took to control the rising surge of panic. Her free hand clutched her comforter as she took several deep breaths in and out. It took several minutes for her heart to settle. She bent her lean body in half and scrubbed her face with her hands in frustration. It was as though he could see the fear she was trying so desperately to suppress. After a few minutes of silence, the girl stood and walked to her dresser.

Entranced, he watched from the window as she reached into the drawers and pulled out a pajama shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep in. Without hesitation, she reached for the hem of her top and pulled it up and over her head. She truly had never considered the possibility of anyone watching her – or being able to, for that matter – as she was on the second floor of a house that was far back from the street and happened to be surrounded by trees.

In one of those trees, his eyes were glued to her form. His left hand dug roughly into the bark and he could hear a slight snap under the force. His eyes took in every bit of the exposed creamy skin. She had fairly muscular shoulders and lean arms connected to a thin torso. Her hips gently curved into the jeans she was still wearing. He was entranced as she pulled the pajama shirt over her head and reached down for the button to her jeans.

The hand fisting the trunk of the tree tightened. She peeled away her jeans almost as swiftly as she had removed her shirt and pulled the shorts over her more intimate regions. He suppressed a moan at the sight of her pale legs. They were long, toned...perfect. It was difficult to watch her climb into bed.

She took the book with his message in it with her. Interestingly, she reached into the bedside table again and pulled out a scrap of paper. With his perfect vision, he could read the four letters he had scribed on the note. It seemed to scream at him as she looked at it again: MINE. MINE.

She was comparing the handwriting on the note to that of the handwriting in her book. Smart girl. It made him smile all over again. She would easily realize that the two were produced by the same hand. All it would take was her witnessing a bit of his handwriting and she would know the identity of her observer.

He was counting on it.

He continued to watch her long after she fell asleep. It was so beautiful, the soft slow beat of her heart paired with her calm breathing. She slept so peacefully for the longest time curled up in that blanket of hers. She was completely unaware and he wondered if she was dreaming about him. Or about the little breadcrumbs he had been scattering for her.

What puzzled him the most was that he could still not hear her thoughts. He usually had his gift readily available to help bait his prey. The fact that he could not hear her innermost musings was one of many things that caused her to catch his eye. She was also so innocent, so unassuming. She had no idea of the dangers that lurked just outside her window. She had no idea what he had planned for her introduction to the shadows of his world.

As the sun started to rise, he heard a slight rustle within the room.

She wasn't awake, but talking in her sleep again. Usually they were innocent mumblings, worries about her mother who lived far away or her father's safety as a police officer. Tonight, they were changed.

She wasn't speaking yet, just gasping. Her eyes were still firmly closed, but her body was moving slightly back and forth. One of her hands clutched the seam of the fabric closest to her face as she moaned slightly in imagined pain. Soon both of her arms were untucked from under the quilt and both arms were out straight, as if she was reaching for someone or something.

He smiled as he heard her slight moan of pain again. He could smell the cold sweat against her skin, and it served to only make her sweeter to him. As she shook her head from side to side, her arms strained outward, she was still mumbling nonsense. Suddenly, her whole body went rigid as she audibly said his name: "Edward."

"Help, please," she muttered more quietly. "Make it go away."

He swallowed back venom that had pooled in his mouth at the sweet fear he could hear in her voice. Was she afraid of him? Had she unconsciously put the pieces together already?

The sheen of sweat was clear across her forehead even in the weak transitioning light between night and day. She continued to reach and turned to her side, curling into a fetal position. Her vulnerable form was facing him, and he wanted her to wake up. He wanted her to understand he had been watching her all night. That he was going to make her nightmare very real.

"Edward." she said again, clear as day. Her right hand reached toward the window but fell limp as the nightmare passed and she fell into a deep sleep again.

He continued to watch her until the world started to awaken around him for the new day. At the sound of Charlie's waking thoughts, Edward removed himself from his perch and went to prepare for the day.

----

It was the worst day of Bella's life yet. She had barely managed to make her alarm before rushing out the door to make it to school on time. She felt the effects of her sleepless night almost immediately. Her eyes had dark bruising under them, her face pale and drawn. Her whole being felt so tired. Though she couldn't recall any of her dreams from the night before, she knew they were particularly bad this time.

While driving to school, she forced one of the windows down on her ancient truck, praying for the cold mist to wake her up a little further. After she pulled into the parking lot, she realized the cold wasn't enough to do more than take the edge off of her sleepiness.

As she got out of her truck, she took note of the parking lot around her. A Volvo stood out among it's more beat up company. She offhandedly wondered if it belonged to _him_. To Edward. Perhaps her nightmares were about him? About how strange his behavior was yesterday, almost as if he was enjoying messing with her?

Though Edward was strange, Bella acknowledged she had bigger things to worry about. Such as the fact that she now had someone stalking her. She was almost positive of it. She had dismissed the strangeness of the note she had found yesterday afternoon as merely a coincidence, but the words she discovered late last night scrawled in her book...there was no way it was an accident. Those words were meant for her, words filled with both malice and promise: _But love, hate on, for now I know thy mind. _Could it be someone close to her?

She walked almost robotically to her first class and slid into her seat. For the first time since moving to Forks, she felt very nervous. He was in this class, and she couldn't help but wonder if he would continue his creepy leering from yesterday.

He didn't appear until a few moments before the bell rang, sitting in his seat with a surprising amount of grace. Today he was dressed just as immaculately as yesterday – dark jeans, faded button down, and a dark fleece jacket. His hair was in a casual state of disarray, as though he had simply showered and toweled it and left it to its own devices. So far, he had failed to acknowledge her. She relaxed slightly in her seat.

The teacher began their lecture, of which Bella only half-listened to. She knew it would probably be a continuation of the sonnets from yesterday, so there would be little new material. As she was starting to calm down a little, she heard the teacher call on Edward to start reading Sonnet 149.

The dulcet tones of his voice caught her attention immediately.

"Canst thou, o cruel! Say I love thee not,

When I against myself thee partake?

Do I not think on thee, when I forgot

Am of myself, all tyrant, for thy sake?

Who hateth thee that I do call my friend,

On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon,

Nay, if thou lour'st on me, do I not spend

Revenge upon myself with present moan?

What merit do I in my self-respect,

That is so proud thy service to despise,

When all my best doth worship thy defect,

Commanded by the motion of thine eyes?

But, love, hate on, for now I know thy mind,

those that can see thou lov'st, and I am blind."

She felt her heart stop in surprise. With wide eyes, she looked down at her textbook and flipped it to the appropriate page. There they were. The very same words that were now permanently etched onto the dedication page of her book. Realizing her reaction was not entirely appropriate for an entire room full of curious students, she tried to contain her shock. They were the _same_.

Her face flushed as she realized half the class was staring at her with curious expressions.

Dammit.

This group included Edward, who looked openly at her for the first time all period. His eyes were dark, which made her flush a deeper shade of red. His stare, like the day before, seemed to burn though her defenses.

She looked away from him quickly.

The rest of the class went by faster after that.

She attempted to ignore him as thoroughly as possible, just as before, for the remainder of the day.

Until the hellish scene that awaited her in biology.

Stacked at each table was a set of supplies: two cards divided into quarters, two pairs of latex gloves, and two sterile lancets still encased in their little plastic packages.

She stopped mid-stride.

_Oh no,_ she thought. _Anything but this. Please, not blood testing. _She could already feel the dizziness sneaking up on her. She had to find a way out of this.

She started to turn around, but ran directly into Edward Cullen. Briefly, she recalled his amusement as she had realized he shared English, biology, Spanish, and history with her. Yesterday he had been sitting in the back, just far enough away to analyze everyone in the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked casually.

She took a step back and looked up into his eyes. "Anywhere but here. I can't stand the smell of blood."

He laughed at her, which made his jaw fall into sharper contrast with the poor lighting. "The smell? Are you sure it's the smell?"

She frowned and chanced a glance at the teacher's desk up front. He wasn't here yet. She still had a chance to escape if he ever decided to move out of her way.

"Yes, the smell. I've always been sensitive to it," she snapped back at him, "It smells disgusting – like rust and salt."

He raised an eyebrow in interest. "Very interesting. Are you going to faint?"

Bella made to get around him, but he blocked her with one arm. "No, no, no Bella. I can't have my lab partner running out on me."

Internally, Bella was struggling to control her frustration. She had no desire to pass out in a biology lab full of rumor-mongering teenagers. "Let me go, Edward."

He smiled a dark smile down at her. "No."

He leaned down to her. The hand that had been blocking her way forcefully pulled her into his body. His face moved into proximity with hers and he said softly, "This could be fun. Don't worry, I won't let you faint."

A frown crossed her features. "Let me go," she hissed again.

"Absolutely," he mumbled, releasing her from his hold.

She stumbled back a few steps and looked back towards the front. It was too late; Mr. Banner was here. With a glare at her lab partner, she sat down on her stool at their table.

Bella was praying blood typing was not the lab for the day, but Mr. Banner's cheerful announcement that the Red Cross had a blood drive coming up crushed her hopes. After asking the students not to start until he prepped their cards with water, she tried to hide her trembling hands under the desk.

The teacher moved swiftly through the room and made it to their table in no time.

She made a last ditch plea to prevent from having to do the lab as he added water to her card, citing her squeamish nature. Mr. Banner denied her attempts to escape easily, telling her to either do the lab or receive no credit.

"Bella," Edward said next to her, calling her out of her horrified frustration.

In horror, she realized he had already put on the latex examination gloves. His long fingers were now reaching for the lancet still encased in its packaging. She felt her vision darkening around the edges as the sounds of the plastic opening filled her ears.

Her pulse was roaring, almost too loudly. Suddenly, the room felt unusually warm.

There was a cold wash of breath across her face, then: "Relax."

Every muscle in her body was tensing and relaxing simultaneously, making her body feel trapped in a bad Charlie horse. Vaguely she registered the feeling of his icy hand taking her own. It felt like an out of body experience as she watched him turn her palm upwards to almost examine her fingertips.

His fingers felt like they had been buried in a snowdrift, each digit firm like the meat of his palm. Deftly, his index finger curled around her ring finger to hold it in place. To push the blood into the end of the digit, he squeezed it gently with his thumb.

The lancet made a slight pop as the spring sent the barb into the pad of her finger.

She tried very hard to keep from falling over at the smell that assaulted her nose. It was so disgusting. Thick, cloying, rusty. To try and focus, she looked up at Edward.

What a mistake.

His eyes were so dark they were almost black.

They held her in place easily, almost spellbinding to her.

She felt the world start to spin around her, and before she could register it, her body was being held up by Edward's hard arm. He had pressed her to his side and slung an arm around her shoulder to keep her upright. Mr. Banner had taken one look at Bella and dismissed them immediately to go to the nurse's office.

She made out the sound of the biology lab door snapping shut and the sound of her sneakers leaving the ground. Was she in Edward's arms now? What was going on?

Instead of heading toward the nurse's station, they were moving in the opposite direction. She wanted to demand where he was taking her, but before she could form the words, they were inside a dark room. _A closet? _She wondered, her mind still jumbled from the disgusting smell.

The walls around them were surrounded by shelves filled with cleaning materials and buckets. A cart stood in the corner with a mop, and the air smelt stale. What were they doing in a supply closet? Bella wiggled a little in Edward's arms to get him to put her down. He refused and instead went to sit on the floor, placing her in his lap.

"What are you doing? What's going on here, Edward? Why am I in a supply closet?" she demanded. "Wha-"

She was cut off by the feeling of his lips on her throat.

All of the blood in her body rushed to her face, flooding it with color.

"Mmmm," he moaned against her skin. "I love it when you blush."

His lips moved to cover her pulse point, which caused Bella to suppress a moan of her own. Her head dipped back at the feel of his lips. They were soft but firm against her flesh. He moved back a hairsbreadth and reached out with his tongue to lave the softly beating point on her neck. She struggled to control the sudden wave of desire that ran through her body at his actions. It was so horribly wrong, being with him.

Those lips replaced the ministrations of his tongue once again and Bella struggled under the weight of his attentions. She allowed him to reach down with one hand and pull her hand up to cup his chin. The slight touch to his flesh made her eyes close in appreciation. She felt his jaw move slightly into her palm, nuzzling it slightly. Her breath was shallow from excitement and confusion and frustration.

Soon those lips of his were on her fingertips, kissing each one slightly until he reached the finger he had pricked with the lancet. This digit he took completely into his mouth, sucking on it. His tongue worked around the tip of her finger, focusing on the small wound. The sensation was almost too much for her to handle.

His eyes were closed now in almost concentration.

She watched, awed, as he removed his mouth from her ring finger and gently kissed her pinky. Without hesitating, he pressed an open kiss to her palm and traced a path from the kiss to the inside of her wrist with his tongue.

His free hand came up from his lap to tangle in her hair. She tried so hard to suppress the effect he was having on her. He had literally dazzled her into complete silence.

"I have been waiting so long," he muttered near her wrist, "For so long, Bella."

"Waiting?" she wondered in a tone that betrayed how much he was effecting her.

"To make you what you always have been," he replied.

Edward tilted his head just enough for Bella to catch a glimpse of his expression.

Terror crept into her body, making it numb.

Words were caught in her throat as she tried to pull away from him.

"No, no, no, kitten," he taunted her. "If you try to escape, you will only make things worse for yourself."

His focus descended back on to the wrist he had captured in his free hand. Lips that lied about his true strength brushed against the place where her palm met her wrist. Lips were replaced with a tongue. His tongue was replaced with teeth. Teeth which scraped across the delicate skin once, twice, three times before biting down.

She saw red as the pain exploded behind her eyes. "No! No, no!"

His lips curved into a smirk against her flesh. He struggled slightly against the instinct he had to bite down again and sever tissue and vein alike. _No, _he reminded himself, _I want to play for a while yet._

Bella was gasping for air against the onslaught of pleasure and pain. Her frightened eyes watched as the beautiful boy lapped up the blood freely flowing down her arm from the wound on her wrist. The sight of it made her dizzy all over again.

The gasping grew louder as she started to feel her whole world darken at the edges. "Help," she managed through heavy breaths, "I'm going to faint. Stop it..."

He slowly peeled his lips from the weeping wound. They were stained red with her blood, adding a new dimension to his beauty which she thought he had been lacking before. God, he was beautiful.

The hand in her hair tugged hard. "Stay awake," he demanded. "You will remain alert."

Her body fought begged to differ. Bella, afraid of the consequences if she disobeyed, tried as best she could to focus on the pain in order to stave away the darkness.

His beautiful mouth returned to her open wound and began to painfully suck on it. She didn't know he was doing her a favor by removing his venom from her bloodstream. He would build her up to that level of suffering. As of even now, the girl was barely hanging on.

She made small cries of pain as the burning around her wound reached a painful crescendo. The girl's head tried to thrash back and forth to dispel some of the pain, but he quelled that behavior quickly by wrapping his fist more thoroughly in her long locks to hold her in place.

With one final pull at her wrist, he again ran his tongue along the wound to clean the ragged edges.

Edward noticed halfheartedly that Bella was only half-awake at this point. He struggled against the desire to tear back into her flesh to teach her a lesson, knowing if he took more blood she would die. "Bella," he hissed at her. Her brown eyes were clouded as they tried to meet his obsidian gaze. "You will obey me."

The girl felt slightly trapped in her own body. She opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't find the strength to form any words. She felt her body be pulled up by two strong arms. She felt her arms fall weakly to her sides, unable to control her numb limbs. Edward easily hoisted her into his hold again.

He angled his face near hers again, his teeth in a wide grin as he took in her appearance. She was flushed, sweaty, breathless...his. She just needed to hear the words again.

He looked deep into her eyes and hissed just as he had before, "You are _mine _now."

----

So hopefully I didn't scare anyone off. [looks around nervously] Things are just going to get worse from here. I do not own Shakespeare's Sonnet 149, nor any part of Twilight. Just having fun.

If you've got this story on author alert, hit me up. I would love to know what you think about this!


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello all! Thank you so much for your continued reviews/alerts/interest in this story!! Real life (midterms) have been consuming my time as of late, but hopefully after this week I can get to posting regularly. A thousand thank yous to my beta, octoberland, who has been so kind as to offer her services to make this story better! Please enjoy chapter 5! **

**ALSO: DARK, dark, dark. Gross stuff. You have been warned.  
**

**----  
**

She woke up confused and disoriented to the world around her. Everything was blurry around the edges of her vision. As she raised her head, Bella noticed black spots dancing across her vision. What had happened? Her thoughts hurriedly backtracked through the last couple of hours. She remembered the crappy day she had at school, vaguely the lecture on Shakespeare in English class, the sound of Edward's voice as he recited the words of the sonnet that had caused her to embarrass herself, biology class and her unpleasant discovery of the lab for the day...Her heart stopped. _Oh lord. Edward._

Her thoughts played back the memory of how he had prevented her from escaping the classroom in time to avoid the lab, one of his arms crushing her into his side. He had made fun of her distaste for blood, had jabbed her with the lancet which had caused her to grow dizzy with the smell cloying in the stuffy air of the classroom.

Suddenly her memory went into overdrive as she recalled the feeling of being in Edward's arms, on his lap, in a dark closet near the classroom...he had done something to her. He had tugged on her hair, demanded she obey his every whim. His hands were gentle at first. They had been cold and hard and firm and something unfamiliar to her.

_Oh. Oh dear God. _

Two things happened at once: she flopped back on to the surface her body had been resting on, her head swimming with dizziness; and she remembered. Edward had bit her. He had actually taken his teeth to her wrist, cutting into the flesh there with an ease that caused a chill to roll down her spine at the memory of it.

As if she couldn't believe it, she moved the arm in question in front of her field of vision. She was still fairly weak and almost hit herself in the face with the limb. Bella blinked once, then twice to clear her eyes from the blurriness. She turned her arm so as to have the soft flesh on her forearm exposed. Her eyes glided from her elbow upwards...slowly midway...then reached the area where her wrist connected to the rest of her arm. There was a thick white bandage there. It was preventing her from confirming her darkest suspicions.

Bella reached her other hand up to touch the white bandage, but still lacked complete control over her limbs and hit herself in the cheek this time. "Oww," she mumbled. It took a little effort, but soon she had positioned her fingers at the edge of the wrap on her wrist. She prepared to tear it away but her thoughts stopped her. Did she really want to confirm what had happened to her? What did this mean? Who the hell was Edward Cullen? Why did he bite her?

She realized she couldn't hide from the truth forever.

Her still-numb fingers reached under the edge of the wrap and pulled. It ripped down the middle in an awkward zig zag, the sound of the gauze like white noise. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the answer awaiting her.

_One, two, three..._Bella opened her eyes. A cluster of inflamed red marks welcomed her back to the waking world. They were evenly spaced and together took on the outline of a jaw full of teeth.

Her injured wrist flopped to her side as she tried desperately to calm her breathing. She hadn't noticed the beginnings of her lungs hurting as she started to hyperventilate. It was true. It was true. He had put his mouth to her wrist and bit down, severing her veins. He had taken her blood. At the thought, she was overwhelmed with the memory of a burning that ran so deep in her body it could not be extinguished. She remembered his features focused on her limb as he sucked the blood and pain straight out of her body. She remembered it all.

Bile and vomit forced their way up her throat and she twisted her body to the side to expel it all. The rough movements of her body caused her to twist a muscle painfully in her back. Out loud, she whimpered in pain. Still too weak to attempt to get up, Bella tried to take inventory where she was now.

White walls, a dresser with a mirror, a familiar computer desk. She was at home? Her eyes looked upwards to take in the sight of the bookshelves against the wall and she could feel the texture of the carpet under her form.

While she continued to sweep her gaze across the room, a slight thump echoed behind her. She tried to force her body to turn over on to her back, but it still was of no use.

Unwillingly, her pulse started to pick up. She was afraid to ask who was there even though she knew there was only one real possibility. The echo of footsteps against the carpet were obvious to her as one of her ears was crushed against it. A cold hand touched her shoulder and she turned her head to try and catch a look.

Red eyes met hers. Almost like a reflex, Bella closed her eyes against the sight of his bloody eyes boring into her face. She didn't know what she was expecting exactly, but she knew it wasn't _that_. It wasn't the cruelty she saw in his features as he studied her expression. He knew she was helpless. It was apparent.

The cold hand turned her body over forcefully, as though she was made of paper instead of flesh and blood. Bella's sore muscles protested slightly at the action. She tried to catch her breath against the stabbing pain of the torn muscle in her back that had been aggravated by the rough movement. Her eyes unwillingly opened again to find him still staring at her face.

Her heart was thumping in her chest. She watched, mesmerized by the fluidity of his movements as he leaned over her crumpled form and put a hand to her chest. Her heart rate increased as she involuntarily sucked in her breath.

"How many creatures do you know of that drink blood, Isabella?" he demanded of her. The voice was soft, dangerous, intimate in their close proximity.

"You are the first," she managed at last. Bella held her tongue at any potential snappish answers.

The hand that had been over her heart moved slightly to cup her breast. His palm was smooth but cold and she couldn't help her body's reaction to his movement.

"Then surely you know the answer to questions you may have," he said smoothly. "Why bother to ask when you already possess the answers?"

His hand tightened slightly, a thumb darting out to move over the soft flesh there. He grazed her nipple and she stifled a shudder. "Get your hand off of me," she demanded instead, turning the conversation away from the truth that lie just within her grasp.

His face twisted into a scowl. "You, Isabella, will do as I say."

"Get your hand off of me," she repeated with all the anger she could muster in her weakened state.

The hand squeezed the flesh under his palm with a force that exceeded pleasure and drove pain straight into her bones. She squirmed to try and escape his hold on her. "I," he said as he leaned in impossibly closer, "could crush your heart right now. My palm could press though your flesh and bone straight to your fragile little organs and pluck them out one by one." His grip became more forceful to emphasize his threat.

It trailed down her torso, pressing as it went.

She shuddered at the physical and psychological torment he was providing. She felt his lips on her jaw now, soft and cold.

"It would be easy," he continued, "to bite here and taste your blood and saliva and tears all at once." There was a slight movement of his lips down the contour of her jaw, then down the left side of her neck. She froze as she felt his teeth gradually graze the skin there. She couldn't help but squirm away at the caress of his tongue followed by the trail of his cool breath over the wet streak.

"I could kill you at the height of your pleasure," he mumbled against her neck, "or as you plead for your life to be spared."

The traveling hand grazed her hip and she tried to move away. He gripped her tightly with both hands now, startling her into stillness. "What do you want? Why.." she asked. He squeezed her hips roughly at the questions.

"You are unique," he replied simply. His face nuzzled slightly into the underside of her jaw. "You fascinate me."

Bella tried desperately to process this tiny bit of information. The spots that had been swirling around her vision since she woke up were starting to fade away, which provided her with a better ability to focus. She realized she needed to know the truth. "You say I have all the answers," she started, "but I'm not sure I do. I don't think I understand." _I'm not sure I want to understand._

Edward's left hand grazed up the side of her body, running gently up the side of her ribcage to her shoulder, over the dip between her shoulder blades and up the curve of her neck. It grasped her chin to hold her still as he ran his nose along her pulse point. It was unnerving. She had gooseflesh all over her body from the intimate contact.

"Say it," he said plainly.

"Say what?" she said, distracted by the feel of his face so close to hers.

"You know the truth, Bella," came the reply. "Say it."

She tried to move her head down to examine her injured wrist again. It was important for her to make the connection. He had hurt her, bit her, done something to her. Her thoughts frazzled into static as his lips came in contact with the juncture of her shoulder and neck. She repressed a moan. He was toying with her, she knew it. He would kill her when she put the pieces together and vocalized the truth out loud.

Lips caressed her shoulder through her t-shirt. The thin cotton did little to dampen the sensation. "S-stop it!" she finally told him.

A growl, loud with his proximity to her ears, filled the small bedroom. It was a warning.

Silly Bella had almost forgotten she was trapped in her bedroom with a monster.

A living, true monster. He had been absorbed by the pursuit of her blood. She remembered he had refused to let her leave the lab despite her inherent distaste for the smell of blood. He had willingly jabbed her with the lancet and allowed her to faint. He had taken her to that dark closet and bit her without regard for the humanity of his victim. He was strong, cold, ruthless. His eyes were the color of murky blood and would occasionally distill into a black so vacuous she could lose her soul in his gaze. What did all of this mean?

"I'm not sure of the truth," she confessed.

Teeth were on her ear lobe now. They clenched down. Bella knew he cold sever the flesh there without hesitation if she moved even a fraction of an inch. "Have a little imagination, Bella."

Her eyelids fluttered shut at the sensation. The entirety of her body was on sensory overload. She wanted to push him away, but knew there was no chance he would release her.

"Tell me your theory," he demanded. "You're a smart girl."

"D-don't patronize me," came her reply. There was a rough nip on the shell of her ear at her retort.

"Say it or I will make you scream it. It doesn't matter to me." The whispered threat was veiled with malice.

"You drink blood," she finally vocalized. "You are cold to the touch. Hard. Strong. Your eyes change colors. You took me into that storage closet and..."

He had untucked his face from below her ear and his nose was now touching hers. "Tell me."

"You bit me. I'm not sure how it's possible, but you bit me."

"Oh, you do know how," he replied. His cold breath flooded her senses and felt good against her flushed face.

"You…You're…You're a vampire?" Saying the words out loud sounded childish. She sounded like a paranoid little girl who had listened to far too many scary stories before bedtime.

His reaction surprised her. A flood of deep laughter echoed off of the walls in the tiny bedroom. She was wrong? His whole body shook with his amusement and made her face darken.

"Brilliant," he said after his laughter had subsided. His face moved away with a swiftness that startled her. He was now crouched next to her still-weakened body. One hand was holding her injured wrist. She looked slowly from the limb to her aggressor, trying to piece together what he was planning next.

Agonizingly slowly, he lifted her wrist up, up, and examined the wounds with a critical eye. He turned the full force of his bloody gaze on her again before telling her, "You will understand." Entranced, she watched his perfect lips open to reveal his mouth of immaculate white teeth. He reached out with his tongue and ran it across his lips, his eyes still on the girl prone on the floor. Bella resisted the urge to lick her own lips in response. She continued to watch as his mouth descended on the broken flesh on her wrist before pausing a couple of centimeters away. There was a fleck of pinkish red – his tongue again, she realized – and then a flash of hot pain.

Bella tried to jerk her arm away from his grasp. It was of no use, he simply held it tighter in his grasp. In this moment, Bella wished she had better control over her body. If it was possible to escape, she would need all the strength she could muster. "Let go!" she yelped. "Stop it! You're hurting me, you bastard!"

He chuckled against her flesh. "This is nothing, Isabella. Nothing compared to what I have planned for you."

There was nothing she could do to prevent his cold tongue from digging into each one of the teeth marks left on her wrist. She loudly cried out at the pain that swamped her system. This was worse than when he had initially bit her. Her whole body thrashed back and forth as she made attempt after attempt to try and convince him to release her. "Let go! Stop it! Edward, leave me alone!"

Her cries fell on deaf ears. Edward continued to mercilessly dig into each individual mark, desperate to feel her blood coating his mouth again in concert with her weak cries for mercy. She was like a sweet, addictive drug. He glanced at her face in eagerness to see her expression. Bella was always so expressive...it was one of the factors that drew him to her in the first place. He could easily decipher those expressions into valuable knowledge.

Tears were running down her flushed cheeks as she tried to move away from his body. Her eyes were closed tightly in pain and suddenly he was angry. "ISABELLA!" he barked at her. Her eyes shot open. "You will watch me. Do not close your eyes again!"

Frightened, the girl nodded. Wordlessly, Edward reached over with his free hand and tugged Bella into his lap. She yelped in pain as the torn muscle contracted again. Blood flowed freely down her newly re-opened wounds. It felt warm against the clamminess of her skin. She felt her whole form come into awareness of Edward's hard body surrounding hers and her skin broke out in a fresh round of gooseflesh. One of his cold arms wrapped around her waist with the force of a vise to keep her from pulling away.

He rested his chin on her shoulder before picking up the injured limb again. "Bella." he said softly. His voice held a level of intensity that made her whole body ache in confusion. "Do you see the blood running down your arm? Can you feel the way it caresses your skin as it flows away from the wounds?" She nodded, feeling the dizziness appear at the sight and smell.

Edward abruptly thrust her own arm in front of her face. "Look at all that blood going to waste. We don't want it to be wasted, do we kitten?" She shook her head, partially to play along and partially to dispel the woozy feeling. He pulled her wrist up to his head, which was still propped up on her shoulder. With a catlike movement, he took one of the beads of blood into his mouth and traced it all the way up her forearm with his tongue. She shook at the feeling.

He then put her injury back in front of her face. "Now, your turn."

"No," she whispered in disgust. "No, never."

He squeezed her wrist roughly, which caused more red to run down her arm. "You will obey me," he hissed to her. "Drink."

Bella clamped her mouth shut. In response he squeezed so hard she swore her bones were going to turn to dust. She cried out in suffering at the feeling. "Yes kitten, you will obey or I will find a different way to play. Now drink."

The injury drew closer to Bella's mouth. Edward, sensing her disgust and disobedience, rammed her bloody forearm into her lips. Hesitantly, her pink tongue reached out and traced the path of the shortest crimson droplet all the way back to the initial bite. There was a growl of approval from the man behind her. The arm confining her tightened. "Again," he hissed. Fearing his response if she refused, she did as she was told once more.

Her insides were twisting at the realization that she had just licked her own blood. She suppressed the urge to vomit and turned her head away from her arm. "Again!" he demanded in her ear. She shook her head in refusal, her jaw clenching tightly shut. "Again!"

Bella twisted away from him barely in time to heave up the contents of her stomach once more on the carpet next to them. She could feel blood vessels in her eyes popping as she heaved again and again, desperate to clear her stomach of the minuscule amount of blood she consumed. He held on to her the entire time, yanking her farther into his lap with an angry movement. Without realizing how it occurred, she found herself on her back once more, looking straight into his face.

"You have left me no choice!" he snarled at her. She noticed he was straddling her waist and had both of her hands in his. There was no hesitation this time as he bent his neck and drove his razor sharp teeth back into the open wound. Bella cried out instantly. The pain was merciless; he allowed his teeth to drive deeper this time in order to teach her a lesson. She moved her head back and forth to try and cope with the bone deep hurt, but it did nothing. She felt the sensation of his mouth tugging her blood from the wound.

The whole room was filled with a coppery smell tinged with the odor of her vomit. Her mouth opened and closed as she attempted to vocalize the pain. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he pulled back – his lips were stained red with her blood.

"You will obey me," he told her. "Now you will be punished for your resistance, kitten." Edward covered her body with his muscular form, trapping her hands above her head. He dipped his head to hers and ran his bloody lips over her chin. Bella gasped at the feeling, opening her mouth in surprise. Edward took advantage of this and put his lips on hers.

He smudged his bloody mouth over her lips once but resisted the urge to kiss her fully. _In time,_ he thought. There was no need to rush. Pulling back, he hissed in her ear, "Lick your lips. Do it now." Still dazed and in pain, Bella obeyed. She licked the residual blood his lips had left behind from her own and swallowed obediently. "Good, good. Keep it down or I will make you swallow a gallon."

Bella froze at the threat. His lips were still faintly coated in the claret as he continued running his mouth over her face. He left little bloody trails all over her milky flesh. It made him smile.

The tiny blood smudges on her face looked heavenly. It wasn't far from his vision of Bella crumpled in the middle of a red splattered room, blood staining her perfect lips like the finest quality lipstick. He couldn't wait to make that vision a reality. She would be so beautiful among such destruction. The question now was who would it be? That pathetic oaf Newton, or perhaps her police chief father? Decisions, decisions.

Right now, his Bella was laying before him like a dinner buffet. She looked divine with her arms splayed over her head – one of which was bleeding out from his obvious mark – her face stained with her own lifeblood, her clothes rumpled and splattered with gore.

He wanted more.

"Where would you like me to bite you next, kitten?"

Her face betrayed her fear. "W-what?"

He leaned in. "I asked where you would like me to feast from you next." Cold breath blanketed her face again and Bella wondered if she would survive Edward drinking from her for a third time today.

"You'll kill me," she said. "I'm still weak from the first time you bit me."

Edward snarled at her reply. "I don't care."

Bella flinched away at his words.

She watched his head move away from hers and over to the right side of her shoulder. His strong fingers reached up and tore the fabric of her shirt away from the flesh. "I will ask you one more time, Bella. Where do you want my bite?"

The girl made another useless attempt to bring her hands down to push Edward away, but his hand kept her wrists in a vise like grip. She didn't reply.

"Okay," he resolved, "It's my choice then."

Edward picked the place that would cause her the most pain – directly over her right collarbone, where the skin was the thinnest. Zeroing in, he dug his teeth into her flesh for the third time in this day. Bella immediately arched upwards into his bite. She squirmed against the pain and the feeling of all of his muscles pressed against every angle of her body. The darkness was threatening at the edges of her vision again. He was taking too much from her already depleted system.

This time was different though. Bella felt the hot edge of pain as he sucked furiously at her skin, but also felt the rumble of his chest against hers. Was he growling again? The roar of blood was loud in her ears. The world was starting to turn shades of black and gray. With a final nip at her skin, he pulled away.

She didn't notice she was gasping for air. He released her hands, but instead of pushing the vampire off of her, she put one hand over her heart. It was thumping so hard she was surprised it hadn't exploded. Bella's gasping filled the air around them now and didn't calm as it had previously for quite some time.

He watched her recover her breath slowly, eyes wide, her face gray. When it appeared she was gaining control, he decided to lap up the excess blood welling over her new bite mark. That it had been painful, there was no doubt.

The vampire immediately recognized the signs of her body shutting down from the loss of the blood. He squeezed her chin like he had previously to keep her alert. He needed to set limits with this girl. She had to know at least the most important rule if she wanted to remain alive.

"Isabella."

She was awake, her eyes wide still.

"You are mine," he told her, trying to explain. "You will tell no one of what has transpired between us. You will cover the marks I give you at all times with whatever means necessary to prevent questions from being asked. You will tell no one of what I am, or I will murder you in cold blood."

She nodded. The movement was jerky at best. "I doubt anyone would believe me if I tried to tell them."

"No one else will touch you, Bella," he continued harshly. "Only I can touch you from now on. You will crave only _my_ caresses."

His cold eyes bore into hers as he sought her acceptance. A few moments passed, and Edward knew she would keep their secret.

"Edward," it came out garbled, "I want to sleep now."

He gripped her chin tighter. "Tell me you understand."

Bella made an attempt to nod again, but it was hardly recognizable.

"Tell me!"

"I – I understand," she said finally.

He released her and her head lolled to the side. He swiftly climbed off of Bella, careful to avoid the mess at her side. His whole body hummed with anticipation, excitement. She had just agreed to his conditions.

_Beautiful, _he thought as he looked over at Bella sprawled over the ugly carpet. Both of her wounds continued bleeding, which provided an interesting contrast to her pale skin. She didn't appear to be completely asleep quite yet, her eyes blinking to try and regain focus. She was fighting it.

Edward stood swiftly and headed toward the still-open window. "Go to sleep, kitten."

She blinked heavily. He watched her attempt to speak, but all that came out was a mumble at best.

The combination of blood loss and the stress he had inflicted on her body proved to be overpowering to her stubbornness, as Bella blinked once, then twice before her lashes fluttered closed completely.

Today had been nothing short of a success.

Tomorrow would be a conquest.

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**Hey everybody on alert: give me a review so I know what you're thinking! Thank you for reading!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Please enjoy!

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The world around her was dark even though she swore her eyes were no longer closed. The last vestiges of her memories were a blend of the feeling of his bite at her collar and the disgusting metallic smell of blood filling the air.

The remembrance of his bite caused Bella to startle awake. Her whole body sat straight up out of bed, flooded with adrenaline at the possibility that he could still be here; he could be waiting for her to wake long enough to drain her again.

Her eyes darted around the dark bedroom. Moonlight streamed through the branches of the tree guarding her window from the outside world. The quickness of her movements made the ache in her skull return with a vengeance. Around the hammering in her head, she remembered that she had fainted while lying on the carpet. However, now she was sitting straight up in bed. Her chin dropped to take in the condition of her wounds as well as the state of her clothing. Prior to blacking out, she remembered her shirt had been torn and bloody, her jeans a stained mess.

Soft sweatpants and a fresh shirt now adorned her body.

Confused, her eyes drifted to the wound on her wrist. Like before, her eyes were greeted with fresh white gauze wrapped around the mark. A hand went up to the place where he had bit her the second time. Fingertips met the roughness of a second bandage evident even under the thin cotton shirt.

Did he change her clothes and bandage her up? Why?

A deep laugh interrupted her inventory of her body.

Immediately and without contemplating it, her head turned to the source of laughter. Again, red eyes stared back at her.

She could barely make out his silhouette in the faint light. Broad shoulders connected to a hardened torso, muscular legs and arms ending in strong hands that could crush her with the most casual of movements. His form was folded into her rocking chair, the slight creak of the old wood interrupting the thick silence.

More and more, she was coming to realize her existence could be snuffed out in seconds. The man before her held her life his palm – and when he tired of playing, he would close his fist and reduce her to dust.

She swallowed hard.

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but found her throat was parched. Exactly how long had she been lying here? She swallowed again, but all she felt was sand sliding down her dry esophagus. Vaguely, she recalled someone checking on her a couple of times over the last unknown hours – Charlie probably – and left her some water and a bottle of aspirin. _Oh. Charlie. Charlie?!_ Her thoughts raced as she considered her father discovering her lying on the floor in a mess of her own blood and vomit. Did he know what happened? Was Charlie okay? Had Edward hurt him?

Without breaking his gaze, Bella fumbled for the glass of water Charlie had left for her. Her fingers brushed against it and she closed them around the shape of the glass before lifting it up to her mouth to take a long draw. The fire in her throat was subdued slightly to a more bearable feeling.

The glass moved away from her lips after she managed to down half of its contents. She tried again to speak. "Edward." It had the volume of a sick child and held none of the strength she wanted it to convey. It would have to do for now, however. "Why?" Her index finger pointed to her freshly bandaged wrist.

"I cannot have you dying on me, Isabella," his voice replied. "I also cannot have you arousing suspicion. Your modesty is of little concern to me." The red in his eyes seemed to house amusement at the growing panic Bella was feeling. "Your precious policeman father could not discover my plaything in a mess of her own blood and bile, could he?"

Bella could not suppress a panicked expression from overtaking her features when he mentioned her father. The moonlight changed position in the room and illuminated the curve of his jaw as he smiled. "Now, now kitten, you don't believe I killed your father, do you?"

"If you hurt so much as a hair on my father's head, all the police on this side of the state would come after you!" she burst out. She tried to suppress the angry tears pooling in her eyes, wishing for the first time that she could hurt him. The anger filling her being surprised her.

"Your threats are useless," he replied as he fluidly stood from the rocking chair. "The police would have no chance of finding me or even connecting me to the case. I am very good about leaving no witnesses."

As he walked toward her on the bed, Bella scooted away from him until her back was pressed against the headboard. The cold of the wood felt good on her sore muscles, but she knew she couldn't prevent his advance.

She closed her eyes against the pain she was sure he would provide.

There was a squeak of springs and surprised, her eyes shot open. He was sitting beside her on the bed now, his legs off of the bed. His torso was bent toward her, and she was trapped in place by his arms, which rested at either side of her body against the headboard.

His eyes locked with hers again. "You threaten me again and I will kill Charlie with my bare hands. I will make sure he is alive to feel every last bit of agony and suffering I can provide him. And, once he believes he will feel the sweet release of death, I will prolong his life and drain every drop of his lifeblood with practiced patience," he hissed at the pinned girl. Bella closed her eyes to ward off the images of this man murdering her father, but Edward would have none of it. "Open your eyes." She shook her head in refusal.

"Open your eyes or I will make you obey me." he told her.

At the memory of her last lesson on obedience, her brown eyes shot open. At the sight, he smiled.

"Get used to it," he said as he drew his upper body closer to her. "Next time, I will not be so lenient. You will close your eyes when I tell you. You will sleep, eat, breathe and even die according to my whims."

"Why?" she whispered in the proximity between them.

His laugh seemed more riotous than before. "Why Bella? You ask me why? I have answered this question many times already." His face was close enough for him to almost touch her nose with his, but instead he snapped his teeth in her face. Bella flinched away as he laughed at the reaction.

"You are mine to possess. You are mine to control, tame, discover, and drain as I please," he replied. "If you ask again, I will punish you until you irrevocably understand."

She shuddered at the thought of the promise in his words.

"I have nothing you could possibly want," she offered up in the silence of the small bedroom.

He stared at her. "You fascinate me. Even before you agreed to obey me, you were mine."

Her mind raced at the possibilities of what his last cryptic remark could mean. Even before he had attacked her in that closet at the school? She felt dizzy at the possibilities, and her head swam with the still apparent effects of her blood loss.

"How long was I out?" she asked after a moment or two. She glanced away from him and looked at her bedside clock. The red numbers said: 4:15am.

"On and off for two days," he answered nonchalantly. At the answer, Bella let out a squeak of surprise and tried to push his arms away from where they were still trapping her in place.

"I have to explain to Charlie why I've been unconscious for days!" she practically shouted at him. "He has to be worried!"

Edward gave her a lazy smile. "He thinks you have taken ill," he told her. "He checked on you a few times in the duration you have been unconscious." He nodded his head at the half empty glass of water and bottle of pills on her nightstand. "Charlie left those for you."

Annoyed, she snapped at him, "How do you know all of this?"

In the ever-changing moonlight, she saw him tap his temple with one finger. "I can hear him, Isabella."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He leaned in to nuzzle her neck with his head. He could feel the way her pulse sped up when he was close to her and reveled in the delightful pulsing of the blood from her heart out to her veins.

The feeling of his teeth dragging along the column of her throat made her pulse accelerate and her palms sweaty. Her whole body was screaming to run, to flee, to escape. She felt his smile against her skin. The words he said next caused her whole body to break out in gooseflesh. "I have the ability to hear thoughts," he whispered against the flesh of her neck. "But you, you are the only mind to ever confound my ability."

Bella wanted to ask why he couldn't hear her, but her mouth was paralyzed by the fear his words instilled in her being.

He hummed against the underside of her jaw and taunted her, "You are unique, kitten. An anomaly. This has saved you from certain death, let me assure you."

Again, Bella was impressed with the fact she was living on borrowed time.

The smooth wetness of his tongue trailing from her chin to the soft flesh behind her ear made her whole form shudder. "Ooooh," she managed out loud as she tried to block out the sensation. Instead she tried desperately to put the pieces of information together. Edward could read minds, but not hers. He said she was unique, which meant this was not a common occurrence. Her thoughts worked through the millions of questions she wanted to ask to garner more information about her captor. Without more information, she would be unable to escape him.

So lost in her thoughts, Bella didn't notice that he had pulled away from lavishing attention on her neck. He interrupted her stream of thought by placing his cold hand on the heated flesh of her left arm. It startled her, causing her head to snap up. "What about school?" she blurted out. It wasn't the question she wanted to ask, but once it was out, she was grateful she had asked it.

"You will continue there," he replied. "You will attend alongside me, and you will tell no one of what has transpired between us. Your secrecy will keep you alive long enough to see graduation." The two arms trapping her in place squeezed her slightly, making the weak muscle in her back twinge in pain.

"I won't tell anyone," she promised. Right now, she knew that maintaining his secret would allow her to think of some sort of way to escape his clutches. It would also keep Charlie from being in any kind of danger.

"I will always be watching you, Isabella," he threatened. "Today will be your first day back at school. Your routine will remain the same, and if you try to run away, I promise death for every person you hold dear."

She swallowed heavily and nodded. "I understand."

Smiling once more, he pulled completely away from her and stood. His long body was silhouetted in the rays of moonlight filtering through her window once more. As she watched him move away and back toward the window, she was curious again.

"Are you leaving?" The question seemed tainted by confusion and curiosity.

"What does it matter, Isabella? Always so many questions, always wondering," came the response.

She had no reply to shoot back.

Still curious, she turned her head to watch as Edward shoved her rusty window open. The old wood made a popping sound in protest before sliding up. He was leaving through the window? That must have been how he managed to enter her room without Charlie noticing.

Knowing she was watching him, Edward looked back at the girl on the bed. "I will see you in a couple of hours."

She nodded, realizing he could see the small movement regardless of the fact the room was still very dark. Without replying, he swiftly exited through the window and out into the cold night. She was still startled by the smoothness and speed of his movements. He seemed more animal than human…though on one level, he truly was an animal. Untamed, fierce, violent.

Though her encounter with him couldn't have been longer than an hour, it left her feeling absolutely drained. Knowing her body was still fatigued from their previous meetings, she fell asleep almost immediately - the quiet lulling her back to darkness.

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Note: Okay, sorry about the confusion with this chapter. I had found some typos and decided to fix them, then replace the original chapter 6. Thank you to my beta, octoberland, who is wonderful at keeping my grammar all cleaned up.

This is more of a transition chapter - meant to set up the next series of events, which is why it is so short. Sorry about the long wait between updates too - real life has been killing me lately, especially with the holiday smashed in there too. I have a couple of reviewers who have asked if this story will be more than simply different methods of Edward hurting Bella, and in response, I reply: absolutely. I wouldn't be writing this if there were no plot or method to my madness!

Also, thank you to all of my reviewers and to all those who are reading this! If you have this story on alert, give me a shout so I know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all! Please don't kill me! I know it's been a while, but this is the third version of this chapter. The first version was awful. I mean it was total crap. So thank you for your patience…the wait shouldn't be nearly as long after this. I can say I have a firm grasp of where this story is headed – and now I like it. **

**That being said, thanks to everyone who has this story on alert or on his or her favorites list! You are all the best!! I never imagined I would receive over a hundred reviews!!!!!!! Also, thanks for the massive amounts of PMs encouraging me to keep on writing. **

**I also own nothing. Just my lovely little plot. **

**WARNING: Unpleasantness. Dark. **

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Morning arrived more quickly than she had anticipated. The feeling of vulnerability overwhelmed her almost instantly as she opened her eyes. The sheets and blanket fell with the weight of gravity as she sat up in her bed. She was lost in her thoughts immediately, trying to recall again the answers he had provided to her questioning.

The most complicated thing in this moment was piecing the information together into a way that could be helpful to her. He could hear thoughts, but not hers. He had called her something…an anomaly. Unique. When she had asked as to why he was so intrigued by her, this was the only answer he continued to provide. It didn't matter how many times she asked – the answer was always the same: it was all in the name of fascination.

"I have the ability to hear thoughts," he had whispered against the flesh of her neck. "But you, you are the only mind to ever confound my ability."

The echoes of his voice in her memories caused a wave of chills down her spine. She felt a moment of insecurity as she sat in her bed – a moment of insanity where she thought perhaps there was something wrong with her mind. This was another instance where she felt like an outsider…a stranger among those who were considered her fellow man.

Sitting alone in the room, she shook her head at the thoughts lapsing through her mind. There was something wrong with her? The more she pondered the insanity of this train of thought, the more she realized this could be of use. Though he had promised punishment to those dear to her if she made an attempt to escape or broke his rules Bella knew she had to try. The key was finding a way to use his inability to hear her thoughts and evade his other keen senses.

The key would be to plan to evade everyone all together. She would have to keep Charlie safe, first and foremost. The more she plotted, the more she knew she had to keep up a façade of obedience in order to prevent discovery.

Still slightly wobbly, Bella uncovered herself and stood from the bed. As she stretched her sore muscles, she again noted the white of bandages wrapped around her wrist. How would she explain this away to Charlie? Her father knew she had been "sick" for the last couple of days. Knowing her father's distaste for illness, Bella knew that providing the bottle of aspirin, maybe checking on her once or twice, and making sure she had fluids was the most care he would provide. She would probably have to pass it off as another clumsy encounter with her arm and the oven that had occurred before she was sick. It was easier than trying to say she had stitches or cut her arm with something, as he would probably want to take her to the hospital to have it checked out.

She lifted two fingers up to touch the second mark on her collarbone. It too was still hidden under white softness. Taking a glance in the mirror over her dresser, she noted that the bandage was only visible if she pulled her shirt tight against her chest. She frowned as she paused to consider her face: deep bags under her eyes, sallow pale skin, limp hair and wide brown eyes that appeared almost sunken into their sockets. With a sigh, Bella turned from the mirror and picked up her towel to head into the shower. Maybe that would help?

Bella flicked the switch on the bathroom wall and let the light fill the small room. She tossed her towel on the sink and then turned the hot water tap in the shower on full power. With a sigh, she began to remove her clothing one article at a time. As she finished pulling off her shirt, Bella struggled to decide if she should take the bandages off while she showered. They appeared to be fairly fresh, put on to apply pressure where necessary and also conceal the wounds. She recalled his cold reasoning behind the bandages: to prevent his toy from dying and permanently ending his little game.

She struggled. Would he punish her for something as trivial as removing the bandages on her body? It had been two days since he had initially bandaged her wounds and placed her in her bed. This thought alone pushed her over the edge and she forcefully pulled the square of cotton from her collar. Forgetting entirely about the second bite, Bella returned to the bathroom sink and looked into the mirror there. It was already slightly clouded by fog, so she used her hand to clear the obstruction away. Her eyes immediately sought out the mark and she had to fight back a shout of surprise.

Red marks, almost jagged, were perfectly aligned in the formation of a crescent. They were perfect impressions of teeth. Stunned, she ran a finger over the mark. She was surprised to discover that it was much larger than she imagined and it was several degrees cooler than her body. Yellow and blue bruising surrounded each little indent in her flesh; a thin crusting of old blood left macabre trails over the milky whiteness of her skin.

The mark reminded Bella of the first time she had uncovered her wrist and she fought back a gag of disgust. Finding the reminders of his bite should not have been such a shock. Bella's knees shook and she gripped the edge of the countertop so tightly her knuckles turned white with the pressure. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on not fainting or collapsing. If she did, Charlie would knock down the bathroom door and start asking questions she couldn't even begin to answer.

Her shallow breathing echoed against the background noise of the still-running faucet in the shower. She looked away from the now foggy mirror to look at the running water and then turned back to the blurry reflection. Brown eyes looked down at the hands gripping the counter but were immediately attracted to the white covering her wrist. She peeled her hands away from their respective locations and put a finger under the bandage. Well, it's now or never, she thought to herself.

Wincing slightly, she tore the white cotton away. It ripped smoothly this time and she allowed it to drop to the linoleum. A cry of outrage slipped past her lips at the sight of her ravaged wrist. When he had gouged his fingertips into the wound to draw her blood, he had hurt muscle, bone and flesh alike. Her wrist was nearly black from the bruising and was also covered in a thick layer of dried blood. The mark was larger here – stretching across the width of her wrist easily and the edges of the wound were visible even on the top of her wrist. Against the bruising, she could make out the crescent shaped bite glistening with fresh blood and clear fluids. Much like on her chest, the imprints of teeth were obvious to her eyes.

She struggled to push back the horror of her existence. Since he had entered her life, her whole world was now thrown into upheaval. She was his property now. More than once he had verbally staked his claim over her – and yet more troubling, he had also marked her body.

Bella couldn't help but wonder what fresh hell awaited her at school this morning. Would he make it obvious she belonged to him? Would he kill anyone who dared to get too close? What would happen if she simply decided to forgo school all together and simply run away?

As she entertained the idea of ignoring school with him all together, she was again brought down to the reality of her situation. She was at the mercy of her captor unless she didn't mind watching her father be murdered in cold blood.

Frustrated, Bella tore her eyes away from her wrist and walked back to the shower. She noted the steam pillowing around the rushing water and turned the other dial to cold in order to make the water a more bearable temperature. She stepped under the spray and quickly washed her hair and her body, trying to be as gentle as possible when cleansing the still raw bites.

After she was finished, she stepped out and covered herself in a thick towel from the rack on the wall. She tried not to focus on the way her whole body hurt or the deep bruising on her left wrist. In fact, she tried to not focus on anything at all.

Bella quickly brushed her teeth and then proceeded into her bedroom. Her gaze was focused on the carpet as she walked rather than paying attention to her surroundings. She headed immediately for her dresser, where she fished through the drawers for a pair of jeans, underwear, and a bra. However, as she stood up, her eyes caught the reflection of bronze hair in the mirror.

Startled, Bella gasped and subsequently dropped the towel. It fell to the floor in a heap. She made no move to retrieve it.

Her visitor chuckled at her response. "Breathe Bella."

She was so stunned she simply tried to get her breathing under control as she slowly turned to face him. Her chest felt like it was constricting at the sight of Edward. He was standing there, perfectly disheveled as always, in a pair of jeans and a tight black tee shirt with a black jacket over it.

What confused Bella so much was exactly why she struggling to breathe. She wanted to blame it on fear, but she also felt strangely attuned to him. This reminded her of the moment when his mouth had been stained in her blood; when her thoughts had drifted to how beautiful he looked in that instant. Though Bella did not wish to recall any of those memories willingly, her subconscious had both isolated and locked away those split seconds for the rest of her existence.

As she gained control of her breathing and her rampant thoughts, Bella managed, "What are you doing here?"

He continued to smile as he stared at her unabashedly. "Mmm, you look delectable," he replied, ignoring her question entirely. He stepped toward her, which caused Bella to take a step back. She rammed into the dresser and it shook from the impact.

"S-Stay away!"

Bella reached down and snatched up the towel she had dropped, covering herself with it right away. He remained silent as he watched her movements. She knew that if he desired to, he could easily uncover her again. She was at his mercy.

"You look so beautiful with my marks on your body," he told her. His eyes were different today, she noticed. Instead of piercing red or inky black, they were now a strange shade of dark brown. He noticed the way she was examining his eyes and answered the unspoken question. "Contacts. They keep anyone from asking questions."

He took another step toward her and again she tried to take a step back. She hit the dresser again, and then moved around next to it. Her back was now pressed into the wall as far as possible. She felt a wave of fear as he continued his predatory stride in her direction. He stopped about a foot from her and reached out a hand to cup her cheek.

She looked up at him completely confused.

The hand on her cheek trailed down her neck, caressed across the hollow in her throat, and then ghosted over the crescent mark still healing over her collar. She hissed in pain as his fingertips grazed the sensitive flesh. "It hurts," she whimpered in pain. Bella lifted her left hand to illustrate that both bites were hurting her still.

Edward leaned toward her chest and she felt a wet, cold, rough object caressing the wound there. She shuddered at the feeling of cold on her sensitive skin. His tongue passed over the wound once, then twice before he raised his head. Strangely, the pain had been significantly reduced.

She watched with wide eyes as he reached behind himself to retrieve a box of cotton squares and medical tape. He swiftly bandaged the bite with the items, making sure they would stay firmly in place. After he had replaced the medical supplies on the dresser, he reached out and took her injured wrist into his grasp. Gently, he repeated the process of first laving the wound with his tongue and then bandaging it up.

Bella was absolutely lost. Was this the same man who had thrown her around like a broken doll and drained her blood?

He was still very close to her. His proximity was making her heart frantically flutter in fear.

Slowly he put his ear over her chest, directly over her heart.

"I savor this," he muttered against her chest. "As long as you obey me, your heart will continue to beat without interruption."

He pulled back and his eyes were burning a way through Bella's soul.

"I will always be watching you, my kitten."

She nodded, unable to find the appropriate response.

His eyes gave her a once over, tracing over the outline of her curves. Bella was still. Her whole world had been shaken by an act of tenderness overshadowed by a loosely veiled threat to her life.

Her hands gripped the towel tightly. She watched him as he slowly took in every nuance of her form.

The silence paired with the almost sexual way his eyes devoured her body caused her knees to weaken. Would he attack her again?

The silence felt heavy and unmanageable.

Murky brown sought out hers, despite Bella's attempts to avoid eye contact.

"Isabella," he snapped.

Reflexively, as even after only a couple of days in his presence he had already garnered obedience, her head snapped up and she looked him in the eyes.

He laughed which filled the space between them with the rich velvet sound. "Get dressed."

She flushed and quickly turned around to bring her attention back to the clothes scattered across the top of the dresser. Once she had gathered the necessary items, she pivoted her body and crashed into a wall of cold muscle.

Her clothes fluttered to the floor again, forgotten.

"What do you want? You just told me to get dressed – now get out!"

His returning smile was amused.

"You heard me!" she said abruptly, tugging upwards on the towel to protect the remnants of her dignity.

"You know your modesty is of no importance to me," he told her. "Yet, by all means, get dressed. I will not be leaving."

Frustrated, Bella picked up the clothes and walked around him toward the bathroom. A strong hand on her arm halted her movement toward the door. She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp but it was useless – he was simply much stronger than she. Instead, she settled for glaring at him. "What do you want?"

"You heard me," came his retort.

He relinquished his grip on her and she continued her move toward the bedroom door. Right as she was about to open it, a hand pressed against the wood to shut it. The hand was inches from her face and Bella could feel the cold emanating from his skin. She tilted her head back to glare at Edward and was greeted by a pair of cold dark eyes.

His second marble hand came up to run along her right side before it rested on her hip. Bella tried to squirm out of his grasp. His proximity was making her nervous, panicked. "Oh no," he breathed into her ear. "You aren't going to get away so easily." His body inched closer to her prone form until he rested his cheek on her shoulder.

Bella shivered at the cold contact of his skin on hers. She felt his cold breath as it spilled against the side of her face, into her ear, and drifted toward her nose. Unwillingly, her eyes closed. She willed herself to stay still, knowing that jerking away from him could cause him to snap.

"Isabella," he breathed into her ear, "do you want me to punish you? You are so stubborn, so headstrong, that you forget that your life is forfeit." His mouth drew down on the side of her neck, just below her ear, causing Bella to freeze. "This," he said as he licked a long line down her flesh, "is all mine."

Her heart pounded when she felt the hand on her grab tightly. "It's a pity we have a façade to maintain. I would love to have another little snack right now."

Abruptly he released her. Shaky, Bella stepped away so that her back was against the door.

"Change right now," he snarled. The threat in his eyes was obvious if she decided to disobey.

Bella unceremoniously allowed the items of clothing she had been holding to fall to the ground. Swiftly, she dropped the towel and began to dress before his eyes. Her face burned hot with a blush of both embarrassment and fury.

"Are you happy now?" she demanded as soon as she was fully dressed.

"Very," he almost purred as he moved into her personal space once more. As he was about to press his chest against hers, Bella attempted to push him away. The smile returned to Edward's face as he utilized his superior strength to knock her hands away with ease.

She stumbled forward because she hadn't realized she was putting every ounce of her strength into keeping him away. Her wrist was throbbing as a result of the force she had been using. With the hand that wasn't hurting, Bella reached up to push her long hair out of her face.

She also made an attempt to express how much she loathed Edward through a pointed glare.

He reached down to Bella and gently ran a finger along the curve of her jaw. He ignored her scowl and turned her head to the side. Bending down, he whispered in her ear, "Now love, hate on, for I know thy mind."

The words triggered a wave of panic in Bella's thoughts. This was the third time she had heard that line in as much as a week. What the hell was going on here? First it appeared in her lost book – on the dedication page, no less. Then it had been spoken out loud by Edward in class, which had almost caused her to have a full on panic attack. And now, now he was whispering those same words in her ear as she tried to evade his advances.

"Why are you repeating the words you read in class?" It wasn't the question she really wanted to ask. Bella was starting to formulate theories but found herself petrified at the implications. If she were correct…if she were correct, this would mean Edward had come here for something more than simply satiating a curiosity. It would imply that he hadn't merely come across her closed mind by accident.

Okay, she had to stop that train of thought before she panicked.

"It seemed fitting," he told her. "You hate me. I can see it in your eyes, feel it tingling under your skin. However, you are too afraid to express it." He had been looking at her, his reddish hair almost brighter in the dim light of the early morning. His skin looked sallow under the strange combination of overhead and natural light.

"You don't know my mind."

He laughed. "No kitten, I never know exactly what goes on in that mind of yours." He released her jaw forcefully. Bella put a hand behind her neck and slowly tried to release the kink there by moving her head slightly back to the right. "You wear your emotions on your sleeve. You are a terrible liar."

He extended his index finger and tapped her chest, directly over her heart. "You make it so easy for me to manipulate you, kitten." Bella reached up and shoved his finger away, which only made his smile more vibrant. "I can tell you don't mind all of this closeness, nor do you really desire for me to exit your life."

"Pardon me, but that is complete bullshit," she snapped at him. "You honestly believe that I enjoy having you toy with me? That I enjoy being used as though I am a walking personal blood bank? That I enjoy wondering what misstep will result in you killing my father?"

The two stared at each other for a silent moment.

"You are very lucky in this moment that I have already enjoyed a meal today," Edward told her as his eyes bored into hers. "You are very wrong in some of your assumptions as well. The issue is not whether or not your father will be killed, but rather when."

"No!" she shouted at him. "You and I have an agreement, monster. I obey by telling no one of your secrets and he remains alive."

"Your obedience only prolongs his life," came his response. "You make a rightful assumption when you call me 'monster'." Edward crouched down to eye level with Bella without breaking eye contact. "I am a monster," he hissed, "and nothing can keep me from what I want. And you are what I want. You belong to me, Isabella."

Bella opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by him again.

"Get out of my sight."

She didn't need to be told again. Bella turned around and opened the door she had been resting against and retreated downstairs. Would he follow her after such a dismissal? She watched the stairs as though he would appear at any moment. After about five minutes, she gave up. Perhaps he was waiting outside for her?

She moved into the kitchen and popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. After lying in bed for more than 48 hours, Bella wasn't sure her stomach could handle much more than that. She was barely able to do more than guzzle the aspirin and water Charlie had left by her bedside when Edward decided to make a four am visit. Her mind raced as she waited for the toast to pop up, thoughts centered on how accurately he could read her emotions. Panic overwhelmed her as she continued to mull over the realization that her father would die regardless of what she did or did not do. Edward had all but provided an exact date for his death.

The sound of the toast popping out of the machine made her jump. She didn't reach for it as she considered why he would kill her father. Why would he go so far as to kill Charlie even if she continued to obey Edward's rules?

Oh shit.

He would kill her father if he were planning on taking her with him.

He would kill anyone who may miss or search for her if she were to suddenly disappear.

Bella looked over at the toast in disgust. Her stomach turned over at the thought of food, and she instead grabbed her backpack and her keys.

As she stepped out into the dim Forks version of daylight, Bella couldn't help but wonder how far this little game of Edward's would go.

------

Bella pulled into her usual parking spot with nervous apprehension. That he hadn't forced her to go with him was very unnerving. After their early morning conversation, she was expecting him to demand that she remain within his sight at all times. Which, when Bella considered how his mind reading worked, was easily attainable even if she was in another building or across town.

The cattle like minds of her peers provided the means for him to watch her every move.

She opened the driver's side door and gathered her things. She turned to slam it shut and saw his eyes watching her. Bella clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent omitting a shriek of surprise.

His crooked smile was filled with dark promise.

She knew it was useless, but she had to try. Removing the hand from over her lips, Bella prepared to tell him to stay away. Right as she was about to vocalize her thoughts, he pressed his right hand over her mouth.

"I will be watching you, as always," he said in a low tone.

Her head nodded in understanding. He removed his hand at her response.

Without another word, she watched his lean form walk away. She watched the movement of his hips and shoulders as he departed. His grace had been evident before she knew of his true nature, but now it was almost glaringly obvious he was more than extraordinary.

With a sigh, she adjusted her backpack on her back and headed toward class.

------

The day was unusually quiet.

English was passing by at a very dull roar. She had been expecting questions about her absence - but apparently Charlie had already told the school she had been very ill with the flu.

She only had one scare today, which occurred when she was changing for her early gym class.

Without thinking about it, she had pulled off her shirt and inadvertently exposed not only the bandages on her body but also the bruises. Paired with Bella's haggard appearance, this caused the girls to stare. Almost immediately the questions started: were you really sick? Is your dad hurting you? Did you hurt yourself? Her heart began to beat frantically as she searched for a believable lie that would prevent any further questioning. How could she have missed the obvious black and blue bruises on her torso this morning? What the hell was wrong with her?

"No," she had finally managed, "I had a series of clumsy accidents before I caught the flu. You know how uncoordinated I am."

One of her few friends, Angela, had simply provided Bella with a soft smile. "Just make sure you take care of yourself."

At the lack of juicy gossip, the group of annoyingly curious girls dispersed to the gym area. Afterwards, she had dressed quickly in her gym clothes and pulled her sweatshirt on to cover the marks. She sat down on one of the benches to try and calm down. It took a couple of minutes but eventually her breathing slowed as her heart calmed.

"Bella?" came the teacher's voice. She snapped back to the subject at hand and flushed as she realized she had no idea what was going on.

"I'm sorry," Bella told the teacher, "I'm still feeling a little sick."

"Would you like to see the nurse?"

She shook her head in a no, her gaze drifting over to Edward. He was sitting in the corner of the classroom, focused on her – not unlike the rest of the class.

"No thank you," was her polite reply.

"Well then, for Ms. Swan's benefit, I will repeat the instructions," the teacher told the class. Her flush deepened as he continued. "You will pair up and work together on this worksheet about Shakespeare's life. Afterwards, each group will be given a particular sonnet to dissect and then present that dissection to the class. This will be due on Friday."

Bella tried to suppress her annoyance at the busy work.

Around her, the class paired up. Bella didn't really feel like seeking out a partner who would inevitably end up butchering and/or misinterpreting a sonnet. Exercises like these were always painful to her. The worksheet passed to her seemed like it would take her five minutes at most, probably fifteen if she were paired up with one of her classmates.

"Partners?" a masculine voice asked her. Bella looked up from the worksheet and saw Tyler pulling up a chair to her desk. She repressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"Sure, why not?"

As the two settled in to work on the paper together, Bella ignored the rest of the class. It was easy and friendly working with Tyler. He was a nice guy, albeit a little boring, but still nice. The time and worksheet passed swiftly.

As Bella stood to hand in her worksheet, a hand grabbed her wounded wrist. She felt tears prick in her eyes at the strong burning pain brought back to life at the touch. She turned her head and saw Edward standing there. "What do you want?" she demanded. He released her wrist and held up his paper.

"I just need a little help with this part about the Globe Theater," he replied with a dangerous smile.

"Oh really?" she muttered, "I was under the impression you were there when Shakespeare was at his peak."

He took a step into her and lowly replied, "No, that was before I had been born."

She shook her head. "What help do you need?"

"Well," he said as he passed her the worksheet, "I was wondering if you could look over these answers."

What was he playing at now?

Annoyed, Bella looked down at the worksheet. His handwriting was immaculate, delicate, almost as though it was from another age. It was stunning… and familiar.

Her whole body flushed with heat at the realization. She recognized that penmanship. It now graced the dedication page of her beat up copy of Wuthering Heights as it spelled out a threat on the musty pages.

This handwriting had been plaguing her mind as it tried to connect the notes to an owner.

However, she now had the answer.

The truth of the realization was poignant. Her whole body felt as though it had been dipped in a vat of ice water and then forced over an open flame. At first Bella felt her hands shaking, but as she tried to prevent her heart from overloading, she noted her whole body had been taken over by small jerky movements.

She also noted there was a strange gasping sound filling the air. It sounded like someone was holding back sobs.

After a couple of seconds, she realized the sounds were coming from her. She was gasping for air like a drowning woman. Her eyes darted around frantically for some kind of help or reassurance. Though she knew her classmates would remain oblivious to her reaction, she silently pleaded that someone, anyone, would notice and help her get away from here.

Away from _him_.

Her frantic search for help stopped abruptly when she saw Edward. An almost maniacal grin was on his face. He had been waiting for her to discover the truth. Was this part of his twisted game? How long had he been watching her? Had he stolen more of her things? Why? What was this?

All around them the students and teacher remained oblivious. She wanted to cry out for help, cry out in despair, anything – but knew it would be in vain. They would never believe there was danger. They would never agree to do more than take her to the nurse, whereupon she would be given a pass to go home where he would still be waiting.

The bell rang in the background. As the room emptied she found her voice. "It's you!!!!"

---

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	8. Chapter 8

**I own nothing. See you at the end! **

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The shrill tone of the bell pierced through the silence that was slowly encroaching on the two still standing in the classroom. There they were, two portraits of stillness, standing between rows of beat up wooden desks in a small and dimly lit room. A small fan spun in the back of the space, filling the room with faint white noise.

The teacher stood at his desk, trying to tidy up the stack of papers. The tapping of the worksheets against his desktop beat out a steady staccato rhythm: _tap tap. Tap tap._ It was familiar. Comfortable. Bella tried to hold on to that common sound to steady her racing heart.

Edward merely watched her struggle to regain control.

Oh how he was planning to savor this. She looked like a cornered animal – eyes wide with fear, stiff posture and adrenaline pouring through her fragile veins and making her heart nearly beat out of her chest.

She was no fool. His little kitten knew of the consequences if she decided to scream. They were trapped in public – she was bound by her word, he, bound by his desire to simply observe and then take what was rightfully his.

His little bear trap had sprung and in the arc of its wake, she was beginning to understand her role in all of this. Her comprehension had extended far past the knowledge that she belonged to him. Surely she had figured out he had more in mind for her than rotting away her existence in Forks.

_In time, in time,_ he reminded himself.

Right now they were at an impasse. She wouldn't dare decide to confront him at this point in time and he would have no need to force his hand.

Edward rather enjoyed the fact that Bella felt skittish. He could see her putting the pieces together in her mind, adding together all of the evidence condemning him. The moment when she had confirmation of her darkest suspicions, Edward couldn't help but grin.

He vaguely contemplated the possibility of removing the teacher from the room. Though it hadn't been long since his previous meal, something about his little Bella stoked the fires of his thirst. It would be so easy to reach out and crush the teacher's throat to incapacitate any attempts to plead for help. If he tried to fight back, to resist, he could simply use his free hand to compress the bones in both arms. The thought of the sweet tang of fear in the warm blood almost made Edward groan out loud.

It could be so beautiful. Yet they were about to be interrupted.

"Isabella, Edward, don't you have another class to be getting to?" the individual in question demanded.

Without removing his gaze from Bella, Edward simply replied: "Yes, of course."

Both students didn't move from their positions.

The teacher cleared his throat as if to urge them into departure. Edward ran a hand through his mussed hair in annoyance. His eyes, still locked on Bella's, seemed to almost taunt her. It was as though he wanted her to simply blurt out the truth. He was looking for a reason to kill, to maim, to destroy.

"I said, get to class!"

The warning caused both Edward and Bella to unfreeze from their statuesque positions among the desks. All around them fellow students were staring – the two had been so intently focused on one another that they missed the entrance of the new class.

Bella was the first to break eye contact. She flushed at the confused staring of her classmates and adjusted her backpack in an effort to avoid their curiosity. So distracted was she that she missed Edward's swift exit into the hallway. Embarrassed, Bella followed with her head down.

The halls were empty around them as the late bell rung in the background.

He was leaning against a row of lockers with his arms folded across his chest. "So Isabella, are you going to break your silence?"

She scowled at him. "What do you mean? Would you like me to announce to the whole school that you are a monster? That you are my own personal demon who shadows my every movement and has trapped me in my own private hell?"

That crooked smile was back as Edward considered how feisty his little pet was being. Her fire was making the game so much more enjoyable. He was really looking forward to breaking her spirit - molding her into the perfect portrait of obedience and raw desire.

"No kitten," he replied as he unfolded his arms and stepped away from the lockers. "I am expecting you to keep your silence."

"It doesn't matter!" she hissed at him. "You've dammed me either way. You keep telling me my life is forfeit, so what does it matter if I tell everyone the truth?"

Still smiling, Edward walked toward her and paused until he was close enough for her to hear him clearly. One of his hands reached out to grab the strap of her backpack and as soon as he had a firm grip, he yanked her forward. She stumbled straight into his cold chest.

Twin arms of steel wrapped around her torso and held her to him. She felt one hand slide slowly up her spine, trace the curve of the back of her neck, and cup the back of her head. She felt fingers tangle in her long hair, nails roughly scratching at the scalp.

"How long would you like me to preserve your father's life?"

The question made her pause in consideration, it tearing a wide hole in the anger bolstering her confidence. His question simply sparked a handful of her own inquires. "How long will you use that threat against me?"

"As long as it takes," he coldly answered without hesitation.

She tried to push him away, arms shoving at his torso. "Your façade," she reminded him in frustration. "I am supposed to be in class right now."

His arms slowly relinquished their hold. Bella shoved at him again in an attempt to gain as much space as possible between them. She knew it was useless, but couldn't help adding, "Stay away from me!"

His eyebrow quirked at his little toy in amusement. "Stay away from you? Such a simple request that I cannot help but deny!"

Bella watched as he took a large step toward her. She reflexively took a step back, trying to avoid being trapped.

"Never forget that I will always find you, no matter how far you run," he told her as he took another step. "There are reasons why I revealed myself to you. Reasons as to why I have been observing you."

"Observing me? Observing would be putting it mildly! Why?" she demanded. "For how long?"

"You always want to know why. Always demanding a reason before knowing all of the details. It's as though you want me to spoil my plans for you." His reply was sharp, controlled.

"Plans?"

He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. The question now was how to tell her the details without ruining the surprise. How could he explain in such a way as to utilize her hatred and anger to bind her to him? In his haste to taste her, to claim her, he had muddled some of the finer points of his plan. It was of no matter – the trap would still continue to constrict around his pet, leaving her in his custody indefinitely.

"Yes, plans." The reply was firm, his voice dark with innuendo. "The type of plans which will only create more nightmares."

She attempted to suppress a shudder of fear as it swept through her form.

"Go to class now, little kitten," he told her. His eyes looked crazed, almost compelling her to remain behind with him.

"What about you?" Again, not the first question Bella wanted to ask. It had been blurted out before she could really consider the implications. Her impulsiveness suggested that she actually cared about the dark figure in front of her.

His expression filled with amusement at the inquiry. "Sometimes it's healthy to skip every once and a while."

He turned on his heel as soon as he had replied. He knew she wouldn't dare to stop him or press the issue further. The moment he was looking so forward to would occur later in the day…when Bella would willingly tangle herself deeper into his hold.

For now, he had to prepare.

----

Standing in the deserted hallway, surrounded in the most normal of locations for a girl her age, she felt so out of place. She felt like even more of outsider, even more annoyed at the oblivious innocence of her peers - if she could even refer to them as such.

While before Bella had simply found her classmates boring, she now found herself envious of their naïveté. The way they went about their business without knowing the true dangers of the world. Obviously if Edward existed, there had to be more of his kind. Did he have vampire friends? Would they emerge as a part of this plan he had concocted?

Even more terrifying to consider – did they all have playthings like he did?

Her whole world had flipped again in class, keeping her perpetually off-balance with his convenient method of confirming her darkest fears. He had then left her with a series of comments that simply left her even more perplexed. Though she had refused to acknowledge it prior, the identity of her stalker seemed painfully obvious.

His behavior had nothing short of damning. He had been laying out these little breadcrumbs for her to examine and puzzle over, then found a way to sweep the entire mystery out of her mind by way of his complex and bizarre behavior. The way he had managed to manipulate the circumstances of their every encounter…it was horrifying. He had been like a force of nature, an unstoppable hurricane of blood and caresses and branding words.

She should have known instantly. As though the foolish boys in her grade had the courage to act on their desires. She had rejected Mike so thoroughly that the boys had kept a respectable distance. Edward had been immediately fearless as he handed her the book. He had tugged on the strands of her hair as he aided her in freeing the locks from under her backpack, a move so subtly possessive and so full of intent.

Bella turned and adjusted the straps of said backpack on her shoulders. She took a deep breath and let it out with a faint shudder. Despite Edward's absence, her hands had only slightly ceased shaking. She knew she had to calm herself before rejoining the class.

For a fleeting moment, she considered running. How long would it take for Edward to realize she had simply left?

She took a few moments, contemplating. All thoughts of escape fled her mind as she considered the safety of Charlie. If she tried to get away now he would have his life cut short. _No_, she realized, _I can't run without a concrete plan in place._ Bella swallowed hard at the threats Edward had already filled her mind with were she to attempt to depart. He would provide no second chances.

Plus, she recalled, Edward could easily monitor her behavior through the minds of her peers. He would most assuredly notice if she was not present in front of Tyler, who had sat behind her in Spanish since her enrollment at Forks High School.

Her legs felt like lead as she walked to the class she should have been in this entire time. Though only fifteen minutes late into the hour-long period, the stares from her teacher and some of her fellow teenagers were mostly annoyed.

Predictably, embarrassment pinked her features.

She slid into her seat and tried to ignore the looks. While taking out her notebook, she scanned the room for Edward. It was a long shot for him to be here, especially after his commentary about skipping, but couldn't help her curiosity. A quick glance showed he was, in fact, not here.

Her shoulders relaxed just the slightest bit. She flipped to the appropriate page in both her notes and textbook, settling into the monotony of a course without an otherworldly stalker watching her every movement.

- - -

Class passed.

Edward appeared in biology at their lab table that afternoon. Honestly, Bella had been expecting him to steal her away at lunch, but he had not returned. For the entirety of lunch she had sat alone, picking at her salad. She had to remind herself that her body needed nourishment despite her continual lack of appetite.

After all, who would be hungry after watching a man – a vampire, a creature of the night supposedly – tear into their flesh?

With that thought, her wrist had started to throb painfully. The yank from this morning had not encouraged the healing process. Tiny sparks of pain shot from her wrist down to her fingertips, making it difficult to concentrate on much else.

He sat at their table with a smug look on his face, knowing she was still bound by her word to keep his secret. Bella briefly wondered if he could tell she was in pain. She dropped her bag on the table and sat, pulling her hands under the table and into her lap. With her right hand, she gently rubbed at the sore spot to try and soothe away the pain. After a few seconds of this, it was apparent it was not helping.

She looked over at Edward, who was watching intently.

"Still hurting, kitten?" he whispered in his velvet tenor.

She gave a slight nod, trying to ignore the little stabs of pain. If only she had remembered to bring the bottle of Tylenol sitting on the kitchen counter this morning…

"Good."

And that was all.

She continued to ignore the pain and focus on the lecture that started not soon after their little exchange.

About halfway through, he pushed a scrap of paper at her across the table.

Curious, she looked over at her lab partner. His eyes were trained up front where the teacher was lecturing about RH factors in blood. The contours of his jaw were rough, the hollows of his cheeks less pronounced than before.

There were two quiet taps on the table, which was enough for her attention to be drawn back to the note. With hands that were still unsteady, she unfolded the scrap and glanced at the hauntingly familiar handwriting.

_You will follow me after this class. You will not say a word. You will obey. _

His eyes were on her now, still masked by the brown contacts. She made eye contact long enough to nod once. As though she had a choice in the matter.

It wasn't long before the dismissal bell rang and the classroom flooded with moving bodies. Edward and Bella's departure from the dingy lab was an exercise in subtlety, Bella remaining close enough to follow her captor, but not close enough to arouse suspicion.

Once they made it in the general direction of the woods he disappeared from her sight. She paused in confusion, wondering what exactly he was planning. Would she finally get some answers?

Bella proceeded toward the trees, driven by equal parts curiosity and dread. She knew if she decided not to show, he would be at her home and waiting. Her footsteps were reluctant, heavy in an attempt to prolong the inevitable.

It was cool here, at the edge of the forest. She could make out nothing past the first trunks, darkness overtaking the little bit of daylight that could break through the branches.

She turned her head to see if anyone had followed her, if anyone had noticed her strange departure from the school. All around her was empty and quiet, save the soft breeze stirring the cold air. Bella didn't know why she had even hoped.

A deep breath, and she stepped into the darkness.

One step, then another and another. She was slow, her neck craning to take in the surroundings. In case she had to flee, Bella wanted to be at least slightly familiar with an exit.

There was a breaking sound off to her left, loud enough to make her head jerk in that direction.

There was Edward, a menacing smile twisting his features into sharp angles and strange shadows. Her breath caught in her throat.

In a move so fast it made her head spin, he was upon her. She felt his cold hands gripping her firmly and pulling her into his hold. There was a feeling of disorientation as her feet were lifted off the ground, followed by…nothing. Were they moving?

As quickly as the sensation had started, it was over.

He had left her in the middle of the woods.

Alone.

What did he have planned?

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**A/N: I can't wait to post the next chapter.**

**Also, I really want to give a shout out to my beta, Octoberland, who is fantastic. She is wonderful and has provided so much valuable feedback, making this story so much better than before.  
**

**And she's nominated for an Indie Twific Award! Her story, Resurrection, is a very contemplative take on the aftermath of Edward leaving Bella in _New Moon_. You can find it here: http://www . fanfiction . net/s/4825583/1/Resurrection (simply remove the spaces). It won't disappoint! Give her your support!**

**Thanks so much for reading! I have really enjoyed the reviews and various questions coming my way. Please keep it up!**

**If you'd like, you can see when updates are happening/in the works - and ask whatever you'd like - by following me on Twitter. (twitter . com/msmoneybeet )  
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	9. Chapter 9

**I own absolutely nothing. Though it should be obvious by now, this story is DARK. This chapter will not be pleasant.  
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The darkness of the woods enclosed around Bella as though she were trapped in a dank cave deep underground. She looked up, seeking some sort of light or relief from the murky shadows, but only found thick branches and dense needles obscuring what little daylight had escaped from the usual grayness of Forks' skies.

The suspicions Bella had tampered down were burbling again to the surface. In the wake of what had occurred between Edward and her in the last couple of days, finding the identity of her stalker had been pushed to the back portion of her mind.

All along, from the moment he had passed her the missing book, her subconscious had been telling her there was only one true suspect: Edward. The strange boy in nearly every one of her courses who had been watching her with a keen eye since the first moments he had introduced himself.

As she sorted through her thoughts she recalled how brazenly he had passed her the missing copy of _Wuthering Heights_, the satisfied smirk on his face when he saw Bella's expression of surprise to see him waiting for her in their fourth class together, the way he almost laughed at her feeble attempts to leave the biology room when the lab was revealed to be blood typing.

Bella had so many questions.

The time had come for some answers. Though she had been essentially yanked into the depths of the woods now surrounding her, Bella felt oddly resolute. One couldn't ignore the steady serenity of the forest nor the cold, which had seemed to intensify under the cover of the trees. She shivered in a combination of chill and barely controlled fear.

For as quickly as Edward had deposited her in the woods, he had just as readily disappeared from her line of sight. Her first thought had been that her captor was preparing something. Perhaps this was the place he would finally drain her dry? Unwillingly she ran a fingertip over the bandage on her left wrist. Perhaps this sudden change in mood was to keep her off kilter, to intensify his game?

A game. Her life had been placed into the hands of a creature intent on destroying the little happiness she had ever known. He claimed it was in the name of fascination, but Bella wondered how long this interest would last. It was apparent that once he tired of playing, he would simply wipe the slate clean and find a new toy.

The slight crunch of the debris on the forest floor alerted Bella to the presence of another. Her head whirled to the source of the sound. No one.

Another snap of twigs and she turned in the opposite direction. As she twisted, the force of the movement caused her to directly ram her body into something hard. Someone cold.

Disgusted, she stumbled backwards.

Edward allowed her to fall backwards into the mud, a smirk on his face. His long legs made up the slight distance in the blink of an eye – much too quickly for Bella to try and get away. His tall frame squatted down near her sprawled form on the ground and he greeted her with a question.

"What is it about you, my Isabella?"

She couldn't hide the confusion as it spread over her features.

Rather wisely, Bella remained silent with the hope of gaining information. She stuck to her resolve to learn as much as possible about this vampire in order to better her plan of escape.

The long silence was only filled by the sounds of the world around them.

Swiftly he stood in another movement that was impossible for Bella's eyes to translate. He was circling her like a vulture circles the dead, his red eyes intently focused on his vulnerable prey. His movement was a polar opposite to the quick swiftness of only a couple of moments prior. He was slow now, deliberate.

"I've known of your presence since you stepped off the plane in Port Angeles," he said finally. His eyes conveyed an intensity that almost scared Bella more than the words. "You smelled so…so _delectable_. You looked like a lost little lamb being led to slaughter. The pain on your face was an intriguing invitation, a delightful contrast to the childlike smell of strawberry shampoo and freesias."

Bella's face was frozen in an expression of terror. He had been watching her since she stepped foot in Washington. She had only been in Forks for three months…he had been stalking her every movement the entire duration of her stay. Even in her wildest nightmares, she had never considered the possibility he'd been observing for so very long.

"Imagine my surprise when I tried to listen to your thoughts, my little kitten. The silence was fascinating, a wonderful change of pace from decades of bland and selfish human thought," his velvet voice continued. "I knew in that moment that I couldn't allow such a precious commodity to escape, so I followed you home."

He paused mid movement, closing his eyes and taking a deep inhalation.

"Ahhh, just as sweet as that first day," he said. His eyes snapped open and bored into her brown ones once more. His smirk dissolved into a smile. "Except now you have a hint of my smell on you, which lets the world know _exactly_ who you belong to."

Bella shuddered as she recalled exactly how that had occurred.

"Why did you start leaving me notes?" she finally asked, worried of the potential answer.

The circling started again. "I knew you had figured out the identity of your stalker early on in the game. Even if you refused to acknowledge it, you knew from the moment I handed you that tattered book. You were too afraid to corner me, to seek out answers. You allowed my playing to persist, which only furthered my deep…fascination with you."

She had brought this upon herself? Sincerely she doubted he would walk away if she called him out on the truth. He had led her to the discovery that he was in fact her stalker. It had been obvious – painfully so – now that she allowed her mind to fully embrace the idea.

Even if she had realized it before this moment what could she have done to avoid this confrontation? How could she escape someone with supernatural capabilities and this dark compulsion for her blood?

"You didn't answer my question!"

He paused mid-step. Swiftly he had moved from his stance and pinned her against a tree. She found herself face to face with this monster of a man, his snarling loud against the soft background noise. "The time for questions is over, kitten!"

Bella glared at him despite her prone position. Her eyes betrayed her, however.

"I love your fear," he told her as his grip tightened. "Your eyes always so expressive, telling me the exact moment you feel surprise, then horror, and finally terror."

She felt utterly hapless as she continued to stare at Edward.

Bella was consumed by the urgency to get away but found herself disgustingly fascinated at the same time. He hadn't softened – instead become crueler with every interaction they had – yet she couldn't ignore the strange tugging on her consciousness every time he was near.

"What kind of game are you playing?"

A deep sniff in her hair distracted her. "I almost didn't believe it," he said with his face still buried in the thick locks.

"Believe what? Why are you toying with me?" She took advantage of the abrupt change of mood.

"I was told you would smell like heaven…challenge my every move." His reply was unfocused. He sounded distant to Bella, as though he was remembering another lifetime.

She was pulled closer into his form as he continued, his voice barely audible over the way the wind blew the branches of the trees surrounding them. "I was warned to stay away, to avoid the girl with the sweet ambrosia for blood, but my control was shattered the moment I saw you."

"Who warned you to stay away from me?" Bella kept her voice quiet as well in an attempt to avoid breaking the calm between her captor and herself.

There was a long moment of silence. Bella was stiff in Edward's hold, pinned against the trunk of a tree, heart thumping, as he remained motionless.

"I said the time for questions had passed, my kitten." An icy marble hand firmly grasped her chin and forced her to look up into his face.

He let go of her, which made Bella's body slide down the trunk of the tree she had been imprisoned against. The soft cotton did little to prevent the bark from cutting into the thin flesh of her back. Almost boneless, she crumpled to the needles and dirt at his feet, wondering exactly what he had planned for this little impromptu visit in the woods.

He turned his back to Bella's form on the ground and began that lyrical walk once more. That he made a single sound was out of courtesy for the girl settled at his feet.

"Every obsession has a root somewhere," he said in a voice so soft Bella wasn't sure it was intended for her to hear. It gained strength as he continued, "But those roots have long since served their purpose."

His tall form crouched down, still only visible from the tiny breaks in shadows where the branches overhead didn't touch. " I don't fear heaven or hell, a vengeful god, or even punishment from my own kind for taking you as mine." A hand reached out through the darkness and cupped her cheek. Her breathing was shallow, still afraid of the ramifications of being trapped with an erratic monster in the woods of Forks.

She couldn't help the morbid curiosity that overcame her sensibility as she wondered quietly, "Are you going to keep me here?"

Edward threw his head back and laughed boisterously. It was enough to startle the birds nesting in the trees, the brushing sound of wings taking flight filling the spaces in his laughter.

He stopped after a moment or two, his features smoothing back into controlled perfection. She heard the soft thump of his knees hitting the ground despite the rustling of the wildlife. He was so close, his icy fingertips slightly caressing her flesh.

"Not here," he hissed between them, " but I will keep you."

Her heart thumped loudly at his words. So his intentions were more than merely draining her at his leisure until she eventually succumbed to death. Or at least he would keep her with him until he found it fit to end her existence.

It appeared she would be with him long term.

Edward watched her face closely as she sorted through the information he had provided. He was eagerly taking in the exaggerated sound of her heart thumping in a mix of emotions – terror, anticipation, and confusion – all also fluttering across that expressive face of hers.

"Are you ready for the next part, pet?"

Confusion erased the other emotions from her expression. "Next part?" Her voice was a little hoarse.

He drew ever closer to Bella's face; enough to have her breath warm his cold cheeks. Bella's entire fight or flight instinct was awake and roaring at her to flee, to get as far from this predator as possible. Yet she didn't move.

It was a peculiar feeling, being pulled into two opposite directions. The adrenaline flooding her veins was begging to escape, while a rational part of her consciousness was demanding she stay and discover exactly what he had planned for her in the woods.

His face tilted slightly to the left, porcelain lips partially opened. Bella had a flood of panic as she remembered the last time their lips touched. It had only been for a brief moment, but the feeling was ingrained in her memory as though it happened only seconds ago. She recalled the perplexing gentleness with which he rubbed his mouth against hers until she was wearing her own blood as lipstick. How he had forced her to lick clean her mouth of the crimson stain – and he had threatened her if she dared vomit again at something so inhuman and unnatural.

She was momentarily lost as she felt the lips brushing against hers moving – not kissing or caressing, but forming words. What was he saying? His voice was again quiet and gentle, a deeper tenor than before.

Bella looked at his eyes, expecting them to be closed, but instead they were wide open – staring at her without remorse. They were as cold as the fingertips against her jaw. The angle made them appear an eerie shade of ruby as the waxing and waning light hit them.

He understood that she had missed his message and decided to indulge her. "Run."

"What?!" she hissed at him, trying to pull back. "You want me to run?"

He withdrew his face slightly. The smile that had been in her nightmares lately was back now in full force. It was a twisted, crooked smile that - given a different situation –could have been very boyish. There was no mistaking the malice or the fact that the last time Bella had seen this expression he had taken blood from her. It was as though he found enjoyment in her suffering, as though it fed his animalistic desire to possess her.

She trembled. He had told her to run.

More of the game, she supposed.

"I want you to flee, little kitten," he hissed back. "I want to play and you will indulge me."

Bella felt her skin crawl in response to his words.

Rather suddenly, she was freed from his closeness.

She stood and tried to ignore the thick mud covering her jeans and arms. She found her knees still wavering slightly as he intensely stared her down. Bella didn't move.

At least she didn't start to leave until Edward crouched down into a predatory stance, his face twisted into that same devious smile. "Don't you have any self-preservation instincts at all?"

Bella stepped away from him, stumbling slightly over a tree root. Luckily enough she was able to catch herself before falling.

"Ah, there it is." He said calmly. "Run now, little Isabella."

She didn't need to be told twice. Bella took off into the woods at a sprint, praying that her feet would avoid all obstacles that could trip her up. Deep down, she knew the possibility of outrunning Edward was simply nonexistent. It was only a matter of time. She made a winding trail through the trees, branches catching on her jacket and pants.

Left. Right. Another left. She encountered some blackberry bushes tangled in the undergrowth that snagged the sleeve of her jacket and refused to release it. Frustrated, Bella tugged twice at the nylon of her windbreaker and it ripped loudly.

There was a tiny bit of pain as the brambles both created new scratches and managed to tear through a layer of the dirty bandages on her wrist. Bella stared at it for a second, a plan formulating.

The scent of her blood would drive him crazy. Really, because he couldn't hear her thoughts, she only needed to find a way to disguise- or at least dilute - her smell and stay out of his reach. She had to find a stream, a body of water, anything.

She took off again, looking for the lightest section of the woods. The trees would be thinner near any body of water. As she ran, she sorted through the various lessons her father had taught her when he was on a wilderness survival kick. Charlie had told her animals often waded through streams in order to prevent being tracked by predators. He had then described to her in detail how this had helped him during one of his random hunting trips during summers past.

Bella said a tiny prayer that enduring Charlie's survival lessons hadn't been in vain.

She made another right and saw a patch of sunlight bright enough to make her eyes hurt after being in the darkness for so long. She pushed herself toward the break in the trunks and as soon as she reached it, stopped to take a deep breath or two.

Perfect. Bella was staring at the river that ran through Forks, not too wide or too violent to cross. She was already cold and miserable, so the water would not be much of a surprise to her.

Bella stared into the murky brown water of the river and hoped it wasn't too deep. While not an excellent swimmer, she could manage to make it through the water to the opposite bank. She took a deep breath and waded in.

The water was much colder than Bella anticipated. Time was not on her side, so she simply endured. She stilled her fears and began wading down the river – staying at knee depth until she felt she had traveled far enough downstream to cross to the other side. By the time this occurred, her limbs felt like they were heavy blocks of ice. The swim to the other bank of the river was painful, so horrifically cold that it was a miracle her arms and legs remembered to work in tandem.

Even the sunlight shining down was unhelpful against the temperature, but Bella knew there was no time to be cold. Adrenaline pumped through her system as she squeezed as much water as possible from her clothes and hair, then took off again into the woods.

She made a frantic left, and then a right. Her breath came out in short pants, a residual effect of the cold on her lungs in combination with the constant running.

Another left. Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest. Another left. Right. Right. The trees all looked the same, the ferns and blackberries and other undergrowth all tugging at her clothes to keep her from escape.

Branches hit her face and her torso and sheltered the few paths as she continued her random pattern through the forest. Mid stride, one of the branches wrapped around her waist and tugged, yanking her backwards. She shrieked in surprise and a hand quickly covered her mouth.

She was placed on her feet, and she tried to tamp down the fresh wave of fear. He had caught her. Scrambling, she tried to run again, but this time he pounced – Bella landed roughly on her back and knocked her skull against the ground. The world exploded in stars for a few moments.

Edward's body did nothing to ease the chill of Bella's still damp clothing and hair. He was stretched out directly on top of her, his whole form pressed against her own. As her world unscrambled, Bella noticed they were lying in a meadow. In any other situation it would be beautiful – the way the wildflowers mingled with the grass was almost picturesque. It could invoke images of fairytales and romance, not potential bloodshed and pain.

There was a caress of something wet and smooth along her exposed neck, her whole body tightening unwillingly at the ministration. "I found you, my Isabella." Another lick punctuated his statement.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked shakily.

He paused to adjust his gaze so that it met hers. "What am I doing? I am rewarding you." His forehead dropped to hers and he nipped at her nose. She felt a shift as his fingertips ran along the contours of her form, eliciting a shiver of fear.

"A reward?"

His face moved until they were cheek to cheek, which allowed Edward to whisper directly into her ear, "You were so good today. I particularly enjoyed our little staring match. Your feistiness makes this so much more entertaining."

She struggled a little, though she knew it was still just as useless as all the other times before. Bella felt another drag of his tongue – this time right behind her right ear. She tried to squirm away from the touch, which only caused him to increase the strength of his grip. "Mmm, I love that you fight me every step of the way…a kitten facing down a lion." This was punctuated with another lick.

"Stop doing that!"

He laughed deeply at his toy's frustration. "Tell me, why didn't you simply blurt out the truth to that room full of children?"

Bella took a moment to consider the question. Why hadn't she revealed him to be a monster, a living piece of mythology? He had already explained that regardless of what she did, her father would be killed. Deep down she knew Edward would break the neck of every student in that room if she mentioned any hint of the supernatural.

She settled for the snappiest comment she could think of in the moment, "No one would believe me." Saying the words out loud made Bella feel despondent. Would they even try to find her when he eventually took her from Forks?

Edward laughed against the soft flesh just below her right ear. "Are you ready for your reward now, kitten?"

She shook her head in a no, praying it would be something simple – something like allowing her to get up, or giving her a blanket to fight the chills wracking her small frame.

More of his weight shifted on to her frame to prevent an escape as his right hand reached up to move the hair away from her neck. His fingertips were surprisingly gentle as he smoothed the wet tangles away, freeing the skin where his mouth was still resting.

Bella felt a pang of fear in her gut. Nothing good could come of his mouth being so close to her soft skin. "Please don't bite me," she begged rather pathetically. It went against everything Bella knew to beg but she felt desperate given the circumstances. They were in the woods, the sun rapidly setting as he pinned her under his form. She was chilled down to the bone thanks to her dip in the river and had no way of making it home if he drained her.

She felt the shape of a smile against her neck.

His mouth opened and Bella fought as best she could against the inevitable. More of his weight pressed down and subdued her thrashing. She tried to turn her head away, but his hands quickly stopped the movements.

Bella felt his teeth drag across her skin, the sensation following with a burning pain that made her cry out. She felt the o shape of his mouth descend on the wound and suck hard, making her eyes blur with tears as the burning dulled. He only took a couple of mouthfuls before pulling back and looking into her eyes with an intensity that frightened Bella.

She looked up at the trees in defiance to avoid his stare. He leaned down again to swipe at the cut with his tongue as his hands forced her face steady.

Edward had a smudge of crimson across one cheek, the line descending artfully across his sculpted cheekbones and up into his hairline. His eyes were feral. One of his fingers dipped into the open wound, causing Bella to bite her lip to keep from yelping in pain. He brought the gory digit to his already bloodstained lips, a smirk on his face.

"The finest wine," he murmured in appreciation. Instead of doing as she expected, Edward brought his stained hand down to fist in her ruined windbreaker. His head dipped down and he buried his face back into the site of the wound. Bella could hear him sniffing deeply and wondered what exactly had changed. Something felt…different.

As she contemplated the strangeness, Edward's face pulled away from where it rested against her bleeding skin. She looked out of her peripheral vision and still only saw coppery hair.

She remembered her arms were no longer pinned but didn't know how to move without Edward snapping. Before she could even flinch, the hands holding her in place tightened a fraction.

He shifted and they were eye to eye once again.

"I can't stay away," he snarled down at her. The shadows cut deep angles into his pale visage, his eyes lined with darkness and smears of blood streaking a strange contrast against such a pale canvas.

He was untamed.

His lips were bruising against hers. No longer was this simply a brushing of lips or a teasing touch. He was branding her, punishing her.

All Bella could taste was the saltiness of her blood mixed with something sweet. He was abrasive, growling deep in his chest. This was his definition of a reward? She felt lost in the hot and cold of his moods.

However, she was no fool. This was another method for Edward to manipulate her and pull the reins of restraint tighter. She brought her hands up to push his mouth away, but he growled louder and pinned them to her sides.

The moment was fleeting, but Bella felt like the world had once again spun out of her reach.

"Mine," came the whisper against her lips. She whimpered at the word, for it meant possession and control over her.

"Mine," he said again as his teeth ghosted over the thin skin stretched over her jaw. "Only mine." Lips caressed the fresh wound on her neck, then moved to suckle lightly on the hollow of her throat.

God, he was so _gentle_.

Bella shivered at the feeling of the cold caress of his tongue across the collar of her soaked coat. It dipped under the fabric slightly to claim the flesh there before tracing a new path back up her jugular.

She squirmed at the feeling of his teeth scraping across the route his tongue had just finished mapping out. "Stop it," she tried in an attempt to stop that horrible scratching sensation. Everywhere his teeth caressed left a burning feeling that made her muscles ache.

"One more taste," came his mumbled response. His mouth attached again to the fresh cut, sucking harder than before at the blood already clotting there. Bella's eyes watered at the pain intensifying as his tongue started to lap at the edges of the wound while he continued to pull at it with his mouth.

"So good," he moaned against her skin. He released her hands and they immediately shot up to his shoulders to push him away.

With a smirk, Edward pulled back and stood gracefully.

Bella blinked heavily at the realization that he had simply pulled away. Her limbs felt numb and heavy, as though they had all fallen asleep under the combined influences of Edward's weight and the chill. She was so cold, worse now without his body blocking the icy breeze.

Bella rolled to her side in an attempt to quell the shaking she could feel starting in her hands and chest. She couldn't quite decide if it was a response to the low temperature or what had just happened.

Her captor, her personal demon, had just kissed her with bloodstained lips.

The worst part was that she couldn't begin to comprehend it all.

Bella closed her eyes and concentrated on regaining control over her rebelling body. She swallowed and could only taste the blood that had been coating his mouth. Her stomach started to heave, but Bella remembered the punishment from when she had vomited last time. Instead of gagging, she made a strangled choking cough. It made her throat raw, but a sore throat was much more preferable to being ripped open.

He was simply watching her struggle.

"Get up."

Bella turned to glare at him. He was amused by her attempts to still be threatening despite the fact that she was currently curled up on the ground.

It took a while, but Bella finally had the shaking under control. She tried to stand, but her legs were still half asleep and she crumbled to the forest floor.

Edward watched her fall and had a moment where his little kitten's struggle to walk reminded him of a newborn deer he had once watched with his sire. The little deer had been trying to stand properly, yet continued to crumble to the ground with the effort of exercising the weak limbs. The predator in him had wanted to lash out and snatch up the vulnerable little animal. He recalled explaining this to his sire, who had told Edward that there were plenty of other deer in the forest. He had tried to appeal to Edward's sense of humanity, which at this point was still an influencing factor in his life as a newborn vampire.

Years later, all vestiges of humanity were now a non-factor. Humans grow and change from infants to adults, but remain forever fragile. They simply go about their lives looking to satisfy their urges and desires, selfishly fighting pointless wars over God and land, and looking for that next big thing to appease their sense of right and wrong. Humans were all the same, a fact he had deduced after a hundred years of the same nonsensical thoughts he had heard.

As he watched Bella, he felt a spike of pride. She was so unlike the others he had met and destroyed. She was already such a good little toy.

She was bent at the waist to try and regain her sense of balance, but was finally standing before her captor. He stepped toward her and Bella wrapped her arms around her torso to keep warm as well as to protect herself. "Stay away from me. Why did you bring me here?"

He stepped closer and his smile widened. "I brought you here to play." His eyes focused on the still bleeding slice, and Bella covered it protectively with one hand. He chuckled at her response. "I can still smell it in the air, kitten. I can still taste your blood on my tongue; I can feel the way it coats my mouth so evenly and glides effortlessly down my throat. So much more delicious than the alternative."

"Alternative?"

"There are some out there who have a different method of feeding," he replied. "They take the blood of animals over those of humans."

Bella was surprised by his words. "You were one of those who ate animals?"

It was his turn to grimace. "Oh yes. It was…tolerable." He took another step toward his prey as he continued, "Hunting animals was such dull work. My senses are more attuned to find sentient prey. Do you want to know why I find hunting humans so fascinating, kitten?"

She shook her head. "No." She moved her hands over her ears to try and block out what she knew was coming next. "No. Stop it!"

Edward slinked closer to her prone form and slid an arm around her waist, pulling Bella into his side. With his free hand, he pulled the hand covering the ear closest to him away. "Oh, you asked little one, and now I am going to answer you," he said into her ear. "You wanted answers to all your questions." The same hand brushed her damp hair away from between them, causing Bella to shudder at the sensation of his fingertips against her cool skin.

"I love the way their minds plead for mercy," he said in his velvety voice. "I love the way their weak little minds beg for a savior, for some kind of intervention while their voices scream in terror." His hand touched her hair again, stroking her head as though she really were a house pet. "My favorite part is when their thoughts and voices scream in unison as they greet death by my hand."

All of Bella's attempts to quell her panic were shot. "M-monster," she stammered. Scared and angry tears ran down her face. "G-get away from me!" She shoved and shoved, but he didn't move an inch from her side.

"Oh kitten, you are stuck with me now," Edward told her. "I never let go of what is mine." The vise of his arm twisted her into his body so their chests were touching. He leaned down to lick her jaw again in satisfaction. "And you are most assuredly _only_ _mine_."

Edward's strong arms pulled her up and on to his back quite suddenly in a move that made Bella dizzy. She tried to reply to his last comment, but was cut off by the strangest feeling. They had to be moving; yet she barely felt jostled. The forest was coming at them lightning fast- when Bella's eyes darted around to take in the surroundings, she couldn't distinguish the trees from the rest of the blurred scenery.

Just as before, he deposited her without care on the forest floor. Bella was completely disoriented from the strange movement paired with the way he unceremoniously flung her from his back.

Her whole body was buzzing with pain and chills. Somewhere along the way, the bandage from around her wrist had been completely removed. The exposed flesh revealed the painful and swollen mark, which looked far worse than it had this morning.

Bella just wanted to go back home. She couldn't understand why he would dump her in the woods again – especially with the sun rapidly fading.

"You will remain here," he dictated to Bella. "You will not move or try to escape. If you try to leave me, the punishment will be far more severe than you can imagine."

"Where are you going?" Again with a comment that made her sound as though she cared where he disappeared to. In this instance, she only wondered how long she would be trapped in the dark with nothing more than the trees for company.

"I smelled an acquaintance a few miles back," he sharply replied.

Bella felt a surge of panic flood her system. He was going to leave her here, in the dark, to potentially seek out another vampire? Her breathing began to speed up as she felt the anxiety of the day compress her lungs.

The sounds of her shallow breaths filled the air between them. Edward looked amused at her response. This would be a true test of her obedience.

It was morbid to consider, but she had to know. "Is it…is it another vampire?"

He tilted his head infinitesimally to face the direction they had come from. Bella could barely make out the way he sniffed the air – as though he was trying to decipher whom the scent belonged to.

"Oh yes," he finally answered after a couple of seconds of silence. An angry snarl erupted from his throat as he turned his head sharply to the right. "He wonders if I will share you."

Bella continued to struggle to regain control over her gasping lungs. The anxiety she felt was making her heart beat frantically. She entertained thoughts of Edward holding her down while this mysterious stranger took his fill of her blood. It was far too horrific to consider.

"There is more of your kind here?"

Edward's red eyes bored into her brown ones. "This area is a popular spot for nomads to hunt…a hiker or two is easily snared and their deaths can be covered by animal attacks."

His reply was not helping her anxiousness at all. She was terrified.

Bella was in pain, half-frozen, and so very afraid. The shaking had only increased in the past few minutes. "D-don't leave me," she said pathetically.

He loved it when she pleaded and begged. It was like music to his ears.

Her cries didn't stop him from turning away from the broken girl on the forest floor.

They also didn't stop Edward from leaving his pet alone while he went to seek out this new threat to his plans. This obstacle would be dealt with simply…and then his conquest of Bella Swan could continue without interruption.

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**I apologize for the delay...between trying to finish my Vampire Author Auction piece and real life, I have been swamped. Every review and story alert makes me so very happy. Never did I expect to have 50 reviews, let alone close to 200! Thank you so much, and please keep letting me know what you think. **

**I also want to thank Octoberland for her beta skills. You all have no idea how many scenes she's convinced me to save from being deleted. She encourages every strange and twisted step of this story, so I thank her immensely for that. (She's still up for an Indie Twific Award too...check out her story Resurrection and go vote!) **

**I am also lurking on twitter (via my magical mobile phone), so feel free to add me and ask questions. My screen name there is msmoneybeet . **

**Thanks for reading!  
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	10. Chapter 10

**Notes: Hi everyone, welcome to chapter ten! I would like to apologize for how very long it has been between updates - real life has been particularly crazy in the last couple of months and I have not really had the time to sit down and write. Most of this chapter has been planned since I posted chapter nine but I really just wasn't able to find the time to type it up. **

**I have to give a special thanks to my beta, Octoberland. She has read portions of this several times, encouraged me to keep writing dark and twisted things, and fixed my ridiculous repeated words. On top of this, she also managed to get this back to me in record time despite being very busy. Go send her some love by checking out her fantastic writing and leaving a nice review. She has some delightfully dark pieces here on FF that you don't want to miss out on. **

**I also need to thank my darling reviewers. Man, you are all amazing. I am continually in awe of the response to this little story and am so thankful. Thanks for the encouragement, the bribery with bacon, the PMs about whether I am planning on finishing this (the answer is a resounding "YES!"), the twitter stalking, and the lovely pimping on various sites and blogs. I adore you all. **

**WARNING: This is still very unpleasant. I feel like I need to give you a reminder: my Edward is deranged. He does bad things in this chapter. These bad things might make you grouchy or disgusted. I also own absolutely nothing except my lovely Darkward and this plot. **

**That said, enjoy!  
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All around her the world was silent. Trees swayed in the soft breeze and she shivered from the chill settling into her bones. Taking a dip in the river had been a pointless attempt to evade her vampire captor after he declared that he wanted to play a game of chase through the forests surrounding Forks.

Now she was alone. Alone deep in the woods as the sun set, clothes and long hair soaked through with icy river water that grew frostier as the minutes passed. She wasn't sure how long he had been gone, but knew he would eventually return.

For now, Bella could only wait.

* * *

He was tearing through the woods at a pace that put the rest of his kind to shame. The taunting thoughts of his acquaintance were parading though his mind, making Edward entertain thoughts of ripping him limb from limb.

When he reached his destination, he looked up into the large fir to find the tall blonde vampire perched casually on a wide branch. The stranger's eyes narrowed as he took in the flood of anger and resentment coming from the man standing below.

After a long and silent staring match, the blonde man gracefully jumped down to face Edward.

"It's been a long time," he said as he put his hand out in a welcoming gesture.

"What brings you to Forks, Jasper?" asked Edward through his scowl.

Jasper stuffed his hand in his pockets, his head tilting slightly as he silently communicated with the other man. _You know exactly why I'm here. _An image of Jasper's wife, a small dark haired woman with delicate features, filled Edward's mind.

"Why didn't Alice decide to come and grace me with her presence?"

_She said it would be more fun this way. Who am I to go against her wishes? She said that threatening your Bella would be more than enough to get your attention. The girl does smell very good, Edward._

There was a snarl as Edward leapt at the other man. The two bodies collided with a thunderous crash. He grabbed hard for Jasper's throat, but the other vampire was able to dodge the movement with a twist of his head. The wide trunk of a tree snapped in half as Edward pushed Jasper backwards, his hand digging hard into the juncture of the other man's neck and shoulder.

A second crash boomed through the forest when Jasper pushed Edward away, forcing him to fly back and through a row of firs. Edward recovered quickly, moving forward and aiming a fist at Jasper's face. He dodged, lashing out a fist of his own.

Instead of connecting, Edward's free hand closed around the blonde vampire's forearm tightly. "Give me one good reason to not rip your arm from its socket!" He leaned in close to Jasper, his chest heaving unnecessarily to gather oxygen. "You will _never_ touch her. Stay away."

A wave of calm filled the field, intensified as Jasper placed a hand on Edward's shoulder. _Calm yourself, _Jasper said within his thoughts. _I didn't come here to take her away from you or to have a taste. _

"I did come to give you a warning though," he added out loud. "The family wants to move back to Forks, which means your little game must end soon. I also warn you about exposure. The longer you keep the human girl as a pet, the more you run the risk of discovery by the Volturi."

Edward scowled darkly at the mention of the royal family of vampires. They had spies everywhere - this was true. However, none of these spies realized the gift Edward possessed provided him with a distinct advantage over them.

He was more concerned about intervention from his sire and former family. "Will they become involved?"

Jasper shook his head in the negative. "The family only cares about preserving the secret, not about some human girl." He made a gesture of dismissal as he added, "What you do with your toy is your own business."

"Carlisle will allow this?"

"Yes," said Jasper as he pushed more calm into the tiny area.

There was another long pause where the only sounds were of the wind knocking branches together. Without realizing it, Edward inclined his head toward the west. Jasper focused in on the movement, wondering what was distracting him so much. There was a faint trace of a heartbeat fluttering not too far away.

Interesting. He was startlingly in tune with the girl who was supposedly his prey.

Jasper wondered if Edward realized the potential consequences of his actions. Focusing the feelings he had endured from his wife as she had endured the horrific vision, Jasper passed them to his former brother.

Pain. Consuming loneliness. Darkness.

As the emotions struck the bronze haired man, his lips curled back into a snarl. A pained half-growl and half-whine escaped his throat as he covered his ears and dropped to his knees. "Stop it," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"No," said Jasper. "Though you are estranged from the family, I still feel you deserve to know what emotional desolation awaits you if you continue along this path. Is this one human girl worth it?"

"She is MINE!" he roared, yanking his hands away from his ears and clenching them deep into the soft dirt at his knees.

"Are you going to keep her?" Jasper was intrigued by the intensity of Edward's possessive desire – still strong despite the wave of dark emotions he had thrown at him.

"What, like a puppy?" he sarcastically shot back.

The other vampire laughed loudly at the response. "The analogy is fitting, Edward."

Edward rubbed his temples with both hands, trying to clear away the feeling of despair still stabbing at his consciousness. Once he had his emotions back in control, he lifted burning red eyes up to face the man who had been his brother. "I will keep her as long as she is useful and obeys only me. When the time comes, I will consume every last drop of her blood and throw her body into the river. If the girl threatens to share our secret, I look forward to first breaking her, then devouring her."

He stood, hands releasing the dirt back to the earth. "Make no mistake Jasper: she is playing into my trap perfectly. She is already mine."

"Where is the girl?" Jasper asked suddenly. He recognized that Edward was ignoring the message at hand, and it was now time for him to return to his pet. Jasper had a sneaking suspicion that she was alone in these woods somewhere, awaiting her Master's return.

"Bella is waiting for me," said Edward as he brushed his hands together to remove the residual dirt. "Are you finished?"

"You shouldn't leave her alone and unprotected," said Jasper. "Especially in a forest where nomads are known to pass through."

A wide grin slowly spread over Edward's face. "Just part of the game."

With that comment, he took off into a run through the trees toward his little kitten. He was looking forward to playing more with her.

* * *

She heard a hiss and a crash break through the quiet. Her head jerked up from where it was tucked down to preserve the little bit of body heat she had left. Through the darkness, she could barely make out a pair of eerie golden eyes. Gold? Was it some kind of animal that had spotted easy prey?

She stared into the dark and heard the faint sound of footsteps getting closer to her prone form. Bella had abandoned the idea of standing long ago as her legs were simply too weak to manage it. Exposure had robbed her of even the possibility of crawling out of the woods. Though she couldn't move, she refused to close her eyes. The thought of sleep was comforting, refreshing even, but Bella knew going to sleep could cause her to die from hypothermia.

Somehow she doubted Edward would allow her to die from something simple like hypothermia. From what little bit of information she had gathered about him, he impressed her as the kind to only allow his victims to die by his hand – nature or otherwise be damned.

The yellow eyes were still staring at Bella's prone form.

She couldn't really see much, but what little she could make out was a man with broad shoulders and a muscular build. He smiled down at her, an expression she couldn't determine as pitying or simply amused. He took a step forward and she shrunk back into herself. Bella hadn't even noticed she was laying down in the bracken and mud of the forest floor until she curled her limbs in tighter.

Bella felt a surge of panic. Where was Edward? Was this one of the nomads he had mentioned?

She heard the crunch of needles and squashing of mud as the man stepped closer. It was childish, but Bella held her breath and went still – hoping that if he couldn't hear her harsh breathing then perhaps he couldn't seek her out through the dark. The stranger chuckled lowly. "I'm afraid that isn't going to help you much."

"S-stay away!" she told the newcomer. "Leave me alone!"

"I'm not going to hurt you, little one," he replied as he drew closer. "Though you do smell absolutely delicious."

"There's someone coming back for me!" Bella blurted out. As if to prove her point, she managed to thrust her bloodied wrist with his obvious bite mark in the stranger's direction. "Stay away!"

"I can smell the infection in your wrist," he continued as though she had never spoken. "I can't believe he's been so negligent with you."

She hated to acknowledge it, but there was only one person she wanted right now. "I want Edward," she managed through chattering teeth. The burly figure squatted down next to her and reached out a hand to pick up her injured wrist, but Bella pulled her arm back to wrap around her torso again. "Don't touch me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured the vulnerable girl once more. Truthfully the stranger was startled by the fact that despite being abandoned in the woods by his brother, she still wanted him. She was still demanding Edward, despite the clear and obvious way he had managed to break her.

Even without searching them out, he could smell the rawness of the open bite wounds. This was so uncharacteristic of the Edward who had lived under his sire's direction. The respect, the calm – it was all gone. The monster he had tried to repress and had loathed for so long had devoured him whole, leaving no remnants of the man he had once been.

And now, as Emmett observed the girl lying weakly at his feet, he realized this human was being consumed as well. Would she simply become another of Edward's victims? Emmett knew Edward hadn't lived his sire's philosophy for quite some time. Towards the end, his brother had been consumed by the thrill of the chase and the gratification of the hunt. It had seemed so unusual that a being once ruled by iron control had suddenly snapped – becoming nothing more than a feral hunter.

Their parting of the ways had been mutual and a relief to the rest of the coven. This version of Edward was not theirs.

Again, as Emmett reached a hand to the girl, he wondered if his brother had truly been gripped by insanity. She visibly recoiled at the attempt, hunching her shoulders and tucking her head into her chest. Without moving from his position, he removed his coat and gently laid it over the shaking figure on the ground.

Where was Edward?

It was strange for him to leave his prey on the ground, completely susceptible to the elements and any potential danger. Even if he no longer behaved as a man, a hunter would still never leave its kill unattended.

Plus there were the bite marks to consider. Several of them, from what he could see of her exposed skin. One was fairly fresh and spreading the metallic smell around the tiny clearing. Yet they were also clear of any venom. So very peculiar. Why would he simply bite her without the intent to drain or change her?

The sound of his coat moving caused Emmett to focus again on the girl's movements. She had pulled the fabric closer to her shivering form to keep any body heat she still possessed. He could see her eyes, wide and frantic with fear. No doubt she still believed he would attack or even kill her before Edward could return.

"Why are you in the forest alone?" he wondered out loud.

There was silence and a faint rustle of the waterproof fabric. And what he hadn't expected, a response: "He said he wanted to play. I tried to escape, which is why I'm soaked."

Emmett grinned at the thought of this fragile human trying to outwit his brother. At the very least she would keep him guessing. "He wanted to play and you fled, which is why you are now alone?"

"N-no," she disagreed. "He caught me…" She seemed to struggle with how much information to divulge to the stranger watching over her. Bella blinked heavily as the temptation to close her eyes grew harder to ignore.

Emmett, noticing she was starting to fade, tried to get her attention again. "What's your name, little one?"

"Bella." The response was quiet.

"I'm Emmett," he told her with a friendly smile. "Did Edward say where he was going?"

"Not really," she confessed. "Something about nomads hunting in the area- a strange scent – another vampire."

No wonder the girl was so afraid. She had been dumped in the dark woods alone while Edward ran off to find another vampire. He had probably smelled Emmett and promptly wanted to scare him away from his activities here in the forest. Too bad Emmett couldn't be swayed easily. He had come with the intentions of merely delivering a message and then departing, but after discovering Bella, his plans had changed.

There was no way he could leave the girl here. She desperately needed to see a doctor and get warmed up. Perhaps he could take her to Carlisle? He could see her body shaking under the cover of his coat and he wondered how much longer she could last without some kind of medical attention. There's no way she would willingly allow him to pick her up, this was certain in Emmett's mind.

In the end, his compassion won out against the desire to simply wait for Edward to return from his errand. If Emmett took his human, then odds were he would seek the family out and he could deliver the message then. Every moment Bella remained in the cold she drew closer to dying. She must have been desperate if she had waded through the river at this time of year.

He reached out both arms to pull her up and into his hold. As he did so, Bella's pleas started: "No, put me down. You have to leave me here. Please, leave me here! He's going to come back and find me gone…and he can't!"

With the girl firmly in his arms, Emmett tried to reassure her. "He will come after you and once he sees what happened, you will be fine. I'm taking you to a doctor."

With a surprising amount of strength, Bella tried to push out of his grasp "You can't take me to a doctor! You can't! Put me down!" She squirmed as much as possible and tried to push him away again. "Put me down!" she insisted. "You can't take me away from here!"

"You are pretty feisty for a human girl," Emmett remarked as he simply looked down at her. "I can see why Edward would be interested."

At that comment, Bella froze.

He looked at her for another moment or two before shaking his head. "I didn't mean I approve of what he's done to you."

She remained stiff in his hold. "You know him then?"

He smiled. "Yes, I knew him. He was…different when we were friends. He was a brother to me."

She could have pressed for more information but instead silence stretched out between the stranger and the girl. She stared at him, looking deep into his eyes as though she was trying to unravel a great mystery.

And the sudden abrupt change in topic: "Your eyes are different – not red like his."

Emmett was uncomfortable at the observation. He looked up and out into the darkness as he contemplated explaining what the difference in eye colors meant. No doubt she already knew. Somehow he knew the information would not surprise this human. "It's related to diet," he said as his eyes focused back on her face. "I consume animal blood – that's why my eyes are gold instead of red."

"Oh."

Again, Emmett wondered what she had already witnessed while in Edward's possession.

"I n-noticed after," she added as her injured arm flopped up in an offhanded gesture to fill in the rest of the sentence. "His eyes were black before and after…" Her own dark eyes closed in recollection of the moment in the janitor's closet at school, the very moment where he pulled away from her wrist and she could make out the faint red glow around his irises even in the darkness of the confined space.

She recalled the feeling of weightlessness, of helpless childlike obedience as she realized that her whole world was changing. Her little world had been expanded by leaps and bounds in seconds, yet had focused and narrowed to encompass Edward. Only him.

He tortured her. He had nearly taken her life and stripped her of dignity. She hated him, yet she was now bound to him. The obligation to preserve her Father's life for as long as possible was priority. As soon as she could figure out a way to ensure Charlie's safety she would be running.

Her internal musings were interrupted by a low growl. The sound was wild, menacing enough to cause Bella to involuntarily stiffen. It was a warning.

Emmett turned around at the sound and his eyes widened in surprise at the figure crouched between two trees.

"Put her down_ now_."

His temper was bleeding into his voice. Each word was rougher than the previous one, the emphasis a result of his usual tenor dropping into a bass.

"Put her down."

The repeated command was punctuated with another low rumble deep in his chest.

"Edward."

At her voice, his lips curled back into a snarl.

Bella was tempted to fidget again, at least make a show of trying to get free from Emmett. Would he penalize her for this stranger's attempt to remove her from the woods while he was chasing an acquaintance?

"Edward, what were you thinking?" Emmett's voice sounded confused - almost horrified. "You left a girl broken and bleeding in the middle of the forest. Alone. What the hell is going on here?"

"Emmett, give her to me." It was the first time he had heard Edward speak his name in 20 years. After Edward's voluntary departure, it was no surprise that his former sibling simply chose to dissolve all ties. He vaguely wondered if the red-eyed vampire standing before him still used the family name and was struck with a feeling of displeasure if he still did.

The weight of disappointment nearly broke Emmett's resolve to peacefully deliver the message. If only he hadn't been the one asked to seek out Edward. If only his brother had not sought out this girl as a plaything and left her crumpled in the mud. It made it nearly impossible for him to leave her in the care of such a monster.

This was wrong. Utterly and completely so.

"Don't be so disappointed, Emmett," said the monster before him. "You remember the conditions of my departure and you knew I would not be living such a _domesticated_ lifestyle." The bronze haired vampire rose from his predatory crouch and made a show of snapping his shoulders back into a confident pose. "For being one of the strongest vampires in existence, you know your strength is no match for my gift." He tapped a porcelain finger to his temple and smiled.

"To answer your question, yes. I do use Carlisle's last name. However, this is the first time I've used it in ten years," he added. "I wanted _her_, Emmett." There was a nod of his head to Bella still firmly in the other vampire's arms. "You remember the warning I was issued, which means it doesn't need to be repeated. I couldn't help but search for her out of curiosity and desire. The first time I recognized her silent mind I was enchanted. It was exactly as I had been told: blood as sweet as ambrosia and a mind impervious to my gift."

"That doesn't give you the right to take her from her home," disagreed Emmett. "Or to torture her by biting over and over until you take as much as you want. What will you do when you finally drain her dry? Move on to the next plaything?"

His lips curled back as he emitted a loud snarl. "You have no right! She is _mine_. She has made the choice to remain with me." Edward took a step forward, fists clenching at his sides. Through the descending darkness, the slight tremor of his left hand was hidden from Bella's sight, but Emmett caught it immediately.

"At least let me take her to Car-"

"NO!" he roared. The shaking of his hands intensified and Emmett could make out the straining of his knuckles against his flesh. The calm had evaporated from his exterior, the cool indifference wiped away by something fiercely protective. "He will take her away from me and rationalize it as another one of his 'humane efforts'. He will ruin it all, Emmett. She will be gone and I will be left alone again, wondering if she was ever real in the first place."

"You know he would never intervene in your personal affairs, Edward," said Emmett as he stared down his onetime sibling.

"I believe," said Edward as his intense gaze passed over the girl in Emmett's arms, "he would intervene in this situation." Despite his confident pose, he looked slightly wounded at the possibility. "Give her back to me."

Emmett focused his attention back on Bella, who was still blinking to try and remain awake. She was still cold – evident by the way her body shuddered slightly against his frozen flesh. He was stuck. He could run now, try to save the innocent girl who was trapped between worlds and risk being destroyed by someone who had once been a brother. Or he could give her back and deal with his own guilt – the guilt of knowing he left a helpless person with a demon.

"I know what you're considering," he told Emmett. "If you run, I will catch you and destroy you. You know you have no chance against my speed or my gift. Your plotting will get you nowhere."

It was true; Emmett realized he was no match for Edward. In previous bouts, despite his overwhelming strength, Edward had bested him time and time again due to his ability to pick moves out of his mind.

"Give me back to him," came a soft female voice. Both males were surprised to hear Bella's input on the situation – Emmett surprised at her devotion to the very thing that sought her destruction.

He shook his head from side to side, signaling slight disapproval at the girl's decision. However, he knew he would lose if he decided to start a fight. Emmett took two steps toward the red-eyed vampire and held Bella's limp body out to him.

Edward met him in the middle and seized the girl from Emmett's hold, tucking her safely against his chest. It was a bizarrely protective gesture for so violent a creature. Again, his voice was like ice: "Leave here."

_You know I have a message for you. _Emmett directed his thoughts to his former brother, knowing it would catch his attention before speaking out loud, "I was sent to warn you."

Red eyes narrowed in annoyance. He could hear the strains of thought as Emmett conveyed the words he no longer cared to hear: _You'll destroy her. You will bring nothing but misery if you continue your involvement in Bella's life. If you don't let her go – _The vision of darkness and despair cut off the warning and filled the corners of Edward's mind, flashes of broken bodies and bloody alleyways sparking the dormant thirst in his throat to life.

The reminder of the possible outcome served to annoy him. He had two messengers deliver the same irritating prophecy from a woman he had long since demanded stop butting into his life. When he had left the Cullens, she no longer held the right to glance into his future and then dispense cryptic warnings.

Regardless, darkness and despair were already cornerstones of his life. He understood his choice. He comprehended that his simple selfishness could be the end of everything, yet he couldn't find it in him to care.

He was beyond feelings of sorrow or fear or revulsion.

He wanted Bella Swan. And she would remain his indefinitely.

"Is that all?" Impatience laced the question.

"No," replied a new voice from behind Edward.

The bronze haired man kept his eyes on Emmett and ignored the annoyance behind him. "Don't attempt to placate me, Jasper. You tried earlier and it really had no effect."

"The warning wasn't meant to be a public service announcement, Edward. You know what will happen if you continue this little mess of yours." Jasper stepped out of the line of trees much like Edward had previously, his hands still shoved in the pockets of his jeans.

"It will only become worse if you decide to get involved," came his snappy reply. "I told her to stop watching, but she persists even years after I left." There was a small shift near his neck – Bella had fisted part of his cotton shirt in her right hand. Though she was still impossibly warm to him, her body was shivering slightly.

"This conversation is over, _brothers_," Edward sneered as he glanced down at the girl in his arms. "You have said your peace, now go."

Jasper shook his head, blonde hair brushing into his eyes. "We will be watching you, Edward."

Edward gave a sharp, loud laugh in response. "Watch all you want. Stay out of it. I will not interfere in your desire to maintain the image of a human family." He took a step toward Jasper and Emmett, who had backed slightly away when Edward appeared to take Bella. "All of my hunting is done in Seattle anyway."

Emmett's golden eyes were trained on the girl, Bella, as she nuzzled her face farther into Edward's shirt. He wished she could at the very least be checked out by Carlisle to make sure she wouldn't suffer any sort of permanent damage from her hours in the woods.

He also noticed that something very strange was happening here. Emmett looked over at Jasper, who gave a slight nod. It was time to leave.

Jasper turned his back to Edward and Bella first; trying to decipher exactly what was going on between the two. Bella was especially conflicted with her emotions – torn between hate and fear – and devotion?

He ran a hand through his longish hair to cover for the slight pause in his movement to leave. Edward saw through his motions and gave a faint warning growl. At the sound, Emmett turned his back to the two.

"There is nothing you can do." The words came from his right, from Jasper rather than Edward.

The unpleasant sounds from Edward grew louder in volume. "Leave," he said in a strained voice.

Emmett gave a slight wave with one hand. "I know."

With the final comment, both Jasper and Emmett took off running, their forms quickly being swallowed by darkness.

Once they were out of sight, Edward tightened his hold on Bella and took off toward the parking lot of the school. Throughout the entire run, she did not speak or move her head from its position against his chest. The only motion he could make out was the clenching and unclenching of Bella's hands in the cotton fabric of his shirt.

They quickly reached her abandoned truck in the parking lot of the high school. He passed the beat up truck and instead darted around the corner to where he had parked his little car.

Edward swiftly unlocked the silver Volvo, leaning down to pry Bella's hands from his clothing and lay her on the seat. She gave a moan as his cold fingertips touched her fingers to free them and then lightly grazed the sensitive skin on the back of her hands.

He shut the door and walked around to the driver's side, opening the door and sliding into the seat smoothly. He turned on the engine but not the heat. She shivered against the cold and tried to force herself into a ball.

He ignored her the entire ride to her father's house. Charlie was inside, watching a game on the television with the volume turned up loud. He seemed unworried about the location of his daughter, which struck Edward as highly amusing.

Edward parked slightly down the street from the house, unwilling to present himself as a guest in the Swan home. As he turned the engine off, he turned to his passenger, lying flat on the seat, and issued her a series of directions: "You will go indoors and greet your father. Tell him you are still feeling unwell and need to take a shower. Go to your bedroom, I will meet you there."

Bella was still groggy and confused. She nodded after a moment to allow his words to penetrate her foggy brain. She wasn't sure she could even make it to the front door with her feet feeling so frozen.

He unlocked the doors and slipped out, leaving her alone in the car. With a sigh, Bella hoisted herself upright and tried to contain the dizziness. Once the world settled, she popped her door open and stepped back into the cold. Her legs nearly crumbled, forcing her to put a hand back on the car to steady herself.

When she felt steady enough, Bella made the slow walk to the front door. She opened it, walked inside, and shut it firmly behind her before calling out to Charlie. "Dad? I'm home."

She walked by the living room and headed straight for the stairs, carefully avoiding the places where he could see her clearly. She had no idea how she would explain the soggy clothes or her damp hair.

Charlie turned the volume down on the television slightly, but made no effort to get up to greet his daughter. "Hey Bella, you're home a little late."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said as she stepped farther into the shadows. "The truck was acting weird, so I went home with Angela. We worked on some homework for a bit, then she brought me home."

"Do I need to take a look at the truck? I'm glad you were able to get a ride home with Angela, she's a nice girl."

"She is," Bella said noncommittally, "So I'm actually still feeling a little sick, I think I'm going to make it an early night."

"Still have the flu?" Charlie asked from his place on the couch. "Do you need any more of that flu medication?"

"No thanks, Dad," she replied. "I still have some left. I think I'm just going to drink some water and try to sleep it off."

"Okay Bella, I hope you feel better," he said as he turned the volume back up to full.

That was one good thing about Charlie: he never was one to ask too many questions.

"Goodnight Dad."

With that, Bella made her way upstairs. She turned the knob on her bedroom door and took a step into the room, expecting Edward to be sitting on her bed or waiting in the rocking chair by the window. Instead, two hands reached out and grabbed her by the waist.

She gave a shriek, which was cut off by a cold hand clamping down hard over her mouth. "It's just me, kitten," he whispered into her ear. Without further words, he pulled Bella up into his hold once more. She kicked at him, flailing her limbs.

Instead of heading deeper into the bedroom, he carried her to the bathroom. Edward held Bella with one hand as he shut and locked the door with the other. Flicking on the light, he deposited the girl onto the floor. "Strip."

Edward swiftly stripped his torso of the shirt he had been wearing, followed closely by his shoes and socks, then his jeans. Bella simply stared, wondering exactly what he had up his sleeve now.

"Did you hear me, kitten? Strip now."

"No," she said simply.

He did not reply to her defiance, instead walking past her to the shower. He turned the hot water knob on full, steam filling the room after a couple of moments.

She expected a third warning but it never came. Instead, Edward yanked her backwards and into the shower fully clothed. The hot water stung her frozen limbs, blood rushing back as they warmed.

Mud and debris ran down the drain, the dark colors streaking the pale tile. Bella watched the swirling, almost entranced. She closed her eyes and raised her face to the spray, body still shivering despite the warmth.

She felt hands come to the front of her chest, pulling the zipper of her ruined jacket down and then peeling away the layer. It fell to the floor of the shower with a loud squishing sound. The same hands tore through the flimsy material of her t-shirt, it too forgotten.

He removed her shoes and socks, throwing them outside the small shower stall. Patiently, he brought his icy fingers down to the zipper of her jeans, unzipping them with a steady hand. He made quick work of removing the soiled denim as well as her undergarments.

She was bare to him, yet he made no move to take her.

Instead, Edward turned the hot water up higher. Bella bit her lip as the heat became unbearable, afraid of what he would do if she complained.

She felt a delicate touch on the small of her back as it traced over bruises created during their little game of chase. It ghosted up the curvature of her spine and his full hand cupped the back of her neck, his index finger lightly following his most recent bite into her flesh.

"Say it," he said suddenly, breaking their silence.

"What?" she asked. She was startled by his decision to break the silence.

Running water filled the long pause between the two. Bella pushed her hair, heavy from the spray, out of her face.

"Say you are only mine."

Bella shook her head. "No."

The hand on her neck tightened in an unspoken threat. "Do not play games with me, little one."

"I don't want to be yours. You already know I am your prisoner, I don't understand why you need the reminders."

He turned her to face him, his face twisted into a scowl. In a flash, she was pressed against the tile walls of the stall, throat exposed to him. "Explain to me why I shouldn't rip your throat out."

Bella closed her eyes and tried to suppress the fear quaking through her body. "D-don't bite me," she pleaded in a weak voice. The strength she had possessed only moments earlier had faded at the way he had easily exposed her to him.

Edward bent his head down, burying his face into her skin. "You." He licked the flesh there, at her breast to punctuate the word, "Are." A soft grazing of his teeth over the sensitive skin caused Bella to gasp in fear as he continued, "Mine." His sharp teeth pressed down hard, but not forcefully enough to break her skin.

She was trembling all over at the confusing combination of her body's response to his actions and her own fear of her captor. He pulled back from her body as he had done many times before and smirked in satisfaction.

"I'm hungry, kitten," he warned her.

"Please don't bite me," Bella said again.

"Just a little taste?" he asked. He was closer to her face than she liked, his voice loud in her ears though he couldn't have been using anything louder than a whisper. "You are my pet to do with as I please, after all."

"Don't do it," she replied with a hint of panic in her tone.

He gave a bright smile as he thought of something better than simply a bite. He coaxed her face to his with his fingers. Without a warning, he took her bottom lip into his mouth. Edward sucked hard on it before biting down, the blood making her saliva taste sweet.

She pounded against his chest as the stinging spread through her lip. She could still feel him laughing at her useless struggle while he swiped at the blood with his tongue.

After a moment, Edward pulled back with the smile still on his face. "Always mine, little Isabella. You always taste so delicious, so pure."

Bella spat blood and saliva at him while her eyes burned with tears. The mess missed him, instead swirling down the drain like the mud and dirt before it.

"I hate you," she hissed. The feeling was growing with every encounter she had with the vampire. "I hate you, you vile creature."

Edward pushed her against the tiles hard. "I don't care if you hate me or not. It does not change the fact that you belong to me."

Bella tried to control the dark feelings bubbling up to the surface. "Why don't you just kill me now and end this game of yours? What do I have to offer you?"

He slammed his body into hers, winding Bella temporarily. "I want you. I have been waiting for you for so long, Isabella. I don't care if you're willing – I will make you mine in every way."

His eyes searched hers for realization as to what his words meant. She gave him a dirty look, which made Edward laugh out loud. He reached out with one hand and turned off the water while the other opened the stall door. Bella squirmed in his hold, but was still unable to get away.

Edward's hand on her body moved to grab her wrist. He yanked her out and into the steamy bathroom, through the door and the hallway, and into her bedroom. Here it was much colder and Bella shivered at the temperature change.

His hold only loosened when she was standing next to the bed.

"Get in," he commanded.

"I'm s-soaked," she replied through chattering teeth. Her arms came around her torso to try and preserve some of the warmth there.

"I don't care," he said.

Bella was relieved he wasn't going to try and touch her again. She resolved that the worst was perhaps over for this moment and climbed under the covers.

Edward still remained next to the bed, his eyes trained on her form. "Go to sleep."

Exhausted, Bella did exactly that.

* * *

**So she made it out of the woods alive. What else does our dear Darkward have in store for her? Any theories? I would love to hear them - drop me a PM, leave a review, or twitter stalk me - I'm msmoneybeet . (Sometimes spoilers and teasers make an appearance on twitter...) **

**As always, thank you for reading!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning: this chapter is very DARK and graphic. If you're not into that sort of thing, you probably shouldn't continue.**

**From last time: **

_He gave a bright smile as he thought of something better than simply a bite. He coaxed her face to his with his fingers. Without a warning, he took her bottom lip into his mouth. Edward sucked hard on it before biting down, the blood making her saliva taste sweet. _

_She pounded against his chest as the stinging spread through her lip. She could still feel him laughing at her useless struggle while he swiped at the blood with his tongue. _

_After a moment, Edward pulled back with the smile still on his face. "Always mine, little Isabella. You always taste so delicious, so pure." _

_Bella spat blood and saliva at him while her eyes burned with tears. The mess missed him, instead swirling down the drain like the mud and dirt before it. _

"_I hate you," she hissed. The feeling was growing with every encounter she had with the vampire. "I hate you, you vile creature." _

_Edward pushed her against the tiles hard. "I don't care if you hate me or not. It does not change the fact that you belong to me." _

_Bella tried to control the dark feelings bubbling up to the surface. "Why don't you just kill me now and end this game of yours? What do I have to offer you?" _

_He slammed his body into hers, winding Bella temporarily. "I want you. I have been waiting for you for so long, Isabella. I don't care if you're willing – I will make you mine in every way." _

_His eyes searched hers for realization as to what his words meant. She gave him a dirty look, which made Edward laugh out loud. He reached out with one hand and turned off the water while the other opened the stall door. Bella squirmed in his hold, but was still unable to get away. _

_Edward's hand on her body moved to grab her wrist. He yanked her out and into the steamy bathroom, through the door and the hallway, and into her bedroom. Here it was much colder and Bella shivered at the temperature change. _

_His hold only loosened when she was standing next to the bed. _

"_Get in," he commanded._

"_I'm s-soaked," she replied through chattering teeth. Her arms came around her torso to try and preserve some of the warmth there._

"_I don't care," he said. _

_Bella was relieved he wasn't going to try and touch her again. She resolved that the worst was perhaps over for this moment and climbed under the covers. _

_Edward still remained next to the bed, his eyes trained on her form. "Go to sleep." _

_Exhausted, Bella did exactly that. _

_

* * *

_

The night was quiet.

There was a squeak of springs as the mattress dipped under the weight of another individual. All she could make out was a bent knee, the soft caress of a hard palm over her calves, and fingertips tracing the curves of muscle upwards to the sensitive flesh of her thighs.

The hands were distinctly cold, but she couldn't bring herself to mind.

Shadows drifted across the walls and the flickers of light mimicked the patterns of the clouds over the moon. She stared up at the ceiling, missing the fact that her fists were tightly grabbing at the covers and her body was awake and begging.

The hands had progressed to tap out tiny rhythms against her hipbones. _Tap tap. Tap tap._ It took her a moment, but she soon realized it was echoing her frantic heart.

_Tap tap. Tap tap. _

The scratch of nails across the thin skin there caused her to bend upward, deeper into the stranger's hold.

He took the movement gratefully, using it to scoop an arm under her spine and press all the exposed curves against his chest. A wave of cold swept over her, pebbling her skin. He gave a low sound of appreciation, hands wandering over the knobs of her spine and the arcs that made up her ribs. She felt overwhelmed by his attention, as she had never been so reverently worshiped.

There was a slow, moist progression of his tongue as it joined the exploration of her body. It drew closer to her neck, and Bella had to force back a wave of panic. The anxiety she felt caused her to go rigid in his arms, but she couldn't recall why this made her nervous. He paused his examination when he registered her discomfort.

She hadn't noticed before this moment, but her eyes were trained upward rather than watching the man who was with her. Who was he?

She tried to look down at him, but found she couldn't move. The anxiousness she felt increased a tiny bit as soon as she realized this, heightening her senses. Above her the stranger started in again, this time only with the lightest of pressures from his lips moving over her skin.

They moved downward over her shoulders, past her chest and then back up to caress the space under her chin. Bella's tension evaporated as she arched further into him, his mouth tempting rather than terrifying.

The desire to figure out the identity of the stranger in bed with her drifted away as his lips closed over hers. She was warm, so warm under the touch of his tongue to hers and with every ragged breath that passed between them. Her body was humming with the contrast of his cold body against her flushed skin.

His lips separated from hers, moving back to cover her pulse point, which caused Bella to suppress a moan of her own. Her head dipped back at the soft but firm contact against her flesh. He moved back a hairsbreadth and reached out with his tongue to cautiously lave the softly beating point on her neck. This time, she couldn't help but give a moan of appreciation. He repeated the action and Bella's previous anxiety was forgotten.

"Please." She said the word before she knew what she was asking for.

Her partner needed no further invitation or explanation, however, as he gave another lick to her skin and pulled back. The darkness aided in keeping his features a guarded secret, his eyes no clue in deciphering his identity either as they were closed.

"Please," she repeated as she looked up into his face.

A pause passed between the two, Bella wondering if perhaps she had broken the spell between them. The mattress springs groaned at the movement of the stranger as he repositioned himself. He offered no warning before he decided to take her, the sensation so startling that she gasped in pleasurable surprise.

She felt his hands guiding her legs to wrap around his waist, which allowed her to draw him both closer and deeper. The same fingertips that had once been so gentle now gripped hard and deep into the flesh of her thighs as he started to move. She reached out to calm his hands with hers but he only tightened his hold on her rather than letting go.

The overwhelming feeling increased when she decided to push back, her hands pulling him nearer to her sweat slicked body. He let out a low moan of enjoyment, his chest curving away from hers with each thrust.

Her mouth opened to try and form words, but she simply drew in ragged breaths. Her eyes were tightly shut; hands trying to pull his torso back to hers. He reached behind his back with one hand, forcing hers to the covers and away from him.

Once her fingers were wound back into the fabric, he moved his hand to one of the legs wrapped around his waist. He tapped it, and Bella opened her eyes. She looked at his milky hand, the starkness of it standing out even against the paleness of her skin. He tapped her knee again, which made her unwind her legs from him as he withdrew from her.

She must have missed it before, but he was on his knees. He tugged on one of her legs, pulling it up and over his shoulder. She started to move her other leg up, but he stopped her mid-movement.

The shadows moved as the clouds outside adjusted, letting a little more light into the dark room. She made out the shape of a hardened chest, broad shoulders and arms banded in sinuous muscle. There was a graceful neck, a defined jaw, and a flash of reddish brown hair.

Bella felt her heart stop for a second. The world seemed to slow down as the room was momentarily illuminated by the glow of the moon. Her partner was smiling. She knew that smile.

Rather than panic, she felt…relieved? What was this?

She felt a touch in her most sensitive place, perhaps a finger? She looked down to find he was poised to re-enter her body once more. "Say it," he demanded in a low whisper.

The words spilled out of her mouth before she could register things like hatred or disgust or desire. "I'm yours. I'm yours. Always yours."

With a satisfied growl, he roughly pushed back into her from their new position. Bella couldn't help the mewl of contentment that escaped from her throat. He smiled at the sound and it was bright through the shadows.

The two continued on in relative silence, their soft pants and Bella's gentle moans quietly echoing across the room. She met him thrust for thrust, uncaring that what she was doing was wrong.

"Yours," she managed as he hit a particularly pleasurable spot. "Edward. I'm only yours."

He released her leg and it limply fell back to the bed. Still connected, he leaned over her body on his elbows. "Again." The request was punctuated by a hard drive deeper into her. Bella's eyes rolled into the back of her head as the tightening within her stomach increased.

"I'm," she gasped as he continued to move, "yours."

Delighted by her obedience, Edward moved one hand between them. Cold fingers started to trace the boundaries of the bundle of nerves between her legs. He pushed his chest against hers even as he continued to move in and out of her. "You _are_ mine, Isabella."

His mouth pressed gentle kisses along her jawline again, every once and a while punctuated by a lick or two. God, she was so close…Bella opened her mouth to say something, but Edward moved the finger between them directly onto the nerves, causing Bella to snap her mouth shut.

"Do you want something?" he hissed by her throat. "Maybe something like _this_?" He pressed down hard on her, sending a jolt of excitement through her form.

"_Yes_," she said as she tried to catch her breath.

"Or this?" he suggested, pressing again on her as he thrust into her body. She gave a long moan at the tingling sensation of pleasure.

He gave her no chance to reply, as he gave the pulsing beat at her throat a lick. "How about this, my Isabella?" His hand between her legs started to move back and forth as he continued to push into her. The tightening was building, her insides twisting as he brought her closer to her release.

"Yes, yes," he said as he growled against her. Bella recognized the feel of his free hand grabbing at her back and couldn't find it in her to care about the fact he was surely bruising her. She was so close.

He too must have sensed it, as he gave one final groan and bit down hard, mangling the flesh at her neck. Rather than feeling agony or fear like the previous times, the pain only caused her to orgasm hard. Her eyes closed at the sensation, and the silence was filled with snarling and grunts as he reached his release while she continued to come down from her orgasm.

She opened her eyes to find a way to untangle him from her, but found herself staring up at the ceiling once again.

She was alone. Her brain felt like it was throbbing against her skull, eyes dry.

She shifted her body and the sheets made a faint rustle in protest. Her gaze darted around the bedroom in search of him, confused by what had just happened. Had she been alone the entire time?

The caress of the sheets against her skin let Bella know she was still nude. The bottom sheet and mattress pad were damp from her night spent laying on them soaking wet after her forced shower. At the thought of last night, she abruptly jerked her body upright, her eyes frantically searching the room for Edward. He was missing, thank god.

It was all a dream.

It annoyed her that she could not even escape him in the relative peace of her subconscious. Since his arrival, she had only dreamed of him in varying ways, the kinds of ways that a psychiatrist would have a field day trying to evaluate.

He had tortured her and humiliated her. The strength of her loathing should have been enough to banish him from her subconscious, yet he continued to pervade her dreams. He twisted them, warping them into something that confused her dislike for something else entirely.

The remnants of her orgasm were still jolting through her body. She put a hand to her neck, feeling the unblemished warmth of the skin and muscle there. Her eyes closed as she recalled how different that bite had been. She moved her hand to the opposite side to check and make sure the wound Edward had inflicted there yesterday had not become worse. Her eyes closed as she recalled how different the two bites had been.

She struggled to control the sudden wave of desire that ran through her body at the thought. It was so horribly wrong, being with him. Especially in her dreams.

"Bella?"

The strange voice cut through the silence and startled Bella out of her thoughts. She yanked the sheet up to make sure she was completely covered, while looking around the room again. She was sure she had been alone!

"Who's there?" she demanded. "I can't see you."

A man, perhaps no older than his mid twenties, stepped into the direct line of the moonlight. His light hair seemed to be enhanced by the silvery rays, his features less angular than Edward's but still inhuman. His golden eyes were keen, taking in every one of her features without any sort of difficulty.

The stranger noticed how gaunt the girl before him was, how sallow her skin appeared under his perfect vision that cut effortlessly through the darkness of the night. She had deep black circles under her brown eyes, which were narrowed in concentration to identify the intruder. The girl was shrouded in the sheet and comforter on the bed, nothing else. Her hair was still damp, casting patches of shadow over the already dark strands.

He was curious as to why Edward had left her alone and undressed in the middle of the night. Though he didn't doubt his former son would eventually come after the family to try and deal with the source of the warnings, the older vampire did not think he would go right away. Especially after spending the afternoon chasing his toy around the woods and defending his claim on her.

"Who are you?" she asked again, reaching to the bedside table to flick on her lamp. The light clicked on, filling the room. "What are you doing here?" The stranger came closer, causing Bella to move as far away as possible from him.

He put up his hands in a non-threatening manner. "I'm not here to hurt you," he reassured her. "My name is Carlisle Cullen."

"Cullen?" At the sound of Edward's last name, Bella flinched noticeably. "You're here with him?"

The fair-haired man lowered his head, shaking it back and forth in a slow no. "He is no longer involved with me." He looked back up at her after a moment or two, his expression becoming darker by the second. "He remains a reminder of my failure to convert him to a more peaceful way of life."

"He said he once consumed the blood of animals," she said cautiously as she drew the covers closer to her bare body. "But they were much too _boring_ for his tastes. He prefers prey with the ability to cry and plead." She glared at the standing figure only a few feet from her bedside, feeling her temper smarting. "Why did you not destroy him when you had the chance? Why did you let him come here and ruin my life?"

Carlisle's perfect features twisted under the weight of his own anger and remorse. "Edward knows the consequences of his actions will catch up with him," he said. "He will pay for what he has done to you. He will suffer for the human lives he has snuffed out over the years."

Bella frowned, trying to squelch the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the cryptic comment. Anger bubbled up deep, surprising her with its intensity. "I know what you are," she said matter-of-factly. "I know you're the same as _him_, that you might be a nomad or someone he knew before. You have different eyes, but that doesn't make you any safer than he is."

She paused in her rambling, taking a moment to search the stranger's features for any sort of tell. There was none. The man's face remained emotionless, even when Bella rose from the bed and took a brave step closer to him. She tugged the still damp sheet along with her to remain covered from his assuredly sharp eyes. Her head throbbed painfully, causing her to wobble a little on her feet.

"I was his sire, girl," came the quiet confession from the handsome vampire. "He was my responsibility. I considered him my son and my friend."

"I'm not sure why you're here," said Bella as she tried to gather herself together. This man had turned Edward into what he was. He was the one to blame for Edward's existence on this earth. The thought caused the anger and frustration she was feeling to seethe closer to the surface. "Were those other two - the ones that appeared in the forest yesterday - are they your responsibility too?" she said flippantly.

At her comment, the man's face warped unpleasantly. He leaned in toward Bella, reaching his free arm out to grab the brunette's forearm hard, directly above the infected bite. "Jasper and Emmett were there to provide a warning to him, not pick a fight. Let me be clear: I don't care what happens to you, Isabella Swan. I only care about keeping my family safe."

His grip tightened, causing Bella to give a yelp of pain. She half expected Edward to come tearing through the window at any second. "Let go of me!" hissed Bella. "If you don't care about me, what the hell are you doing here? How do you know who I am?"

"You can't really continue on like this any longer," he said, eyes scrutinizing Bella's body closely. He ignored both of her questions and decided to share his clinical opinion: "Your body only has so much blood – a limit Edward doesn't care much about. He will continue to take and consume until you lay under him as nothing more than a useless husk." He paused to point at the spot on Bella's wrist with one long finger. "I can smell the infection settling in that wound. It hurts you, doesn't it?"

Bella shook her head. "It's none of your business if it hurts or not. I'm not afraid of you. You may be like _him_, but you obviously don't have as much of a bite."

His fingers tightened on her forearm, increasing the pain to the point where it made Bella's eyes water. His ochre eyes bored into hers, looking for something in her expression.

There was a long pause between the two before Carlisle released the girl. She stumbled, confused at why he had let her go without trying to kill her. "What do you remember of yesterday?" The abrupt changes in topic made her head spin.

At the mention of yesterday, she shuddered at the recollection of her terrifying run through the woods in a game of predator and prey. She had tried to elude him by wading through the river and failed – he easily caught and cornered her like some kind of scared animal.

"Everything," she finally answered, her voice cracking slightly. "Well mostly everything. There were parts where my head was a little fuzzy." At her reply, the stranger raised his hands to move them toward her face. Bella shied away from his touch immediately.

"I'm only going to check to see if you have a concussion," he told her. She nodded and he placed his hands on her cheeks, looking deep into her tired eyes. He pulled a pen light from his pocket, shining it directly into her pupils. Bella fought against the desire to blink against the bright light.

"The two others had the same color eyes you have," she blurted out while he continued his examination. "The ones I met yesterday. One of them tried to take me away from Edward."

"That was Emmett. He was actually the one who suggested I come check on you," he said with a frown. He noticed she was being repetitive, mentioning the same bits of information over and over. It was possible this was due to a concussion, or probable that she was still dazed from the last couple of days. "He believed you would die if this infection went untreated any longer, and because I am a doctor I was the best choice for the job."

There was a long stretch of silence while Bella evaluated this stranger's words. "Fine."

He gave a nod and leaned down to pick up something off the floor. He held it up in the lamplight to reassure her. It was a black doctor's bag. Carlisle started to shift closer to her but Bella pulled the sheet tighter around her as she moved away. "Can I get dressed first?"

A look of curiosity drifted across his expression at her inquiry. It only flickered there for a moment, but Bella had become so attuned to watching Edward that she noticed it. She wasn't sure if the explanation for her current state of undress was necessary or not.

Carlisle nodded and stood, walking over to face the wall farthest from her and her dresser. He was very curious as to why she was nude; the thought that perhaps Edward was having some sort of sexual relationship with this human girl crossed his mind. That might explain the level of devotion both Emmett and Jasper had observed between predator and prey.

It might also explain what he had inadvertently walked in on when he climbed through Bella's window. By nature he was a curious man, which had prompted him to use Emmett's desire to check on the human girl as a way to observe her behavior. He had been stunned to see her, sweating and twisting in the sheets as the smell of her arousal filled the room, mumbling for her captor.

She gripped her nightstand to gather herself then continued to the dresser. She reached into the first drawer and pulled out a tank top and a pair of pajama shorts. Bella looked over at the stranger in the corner to make sure he was not looking before getting dressed as quickly as possible.

"Okay, I'm decent," she said softly. Bella ran a hand through her hair to try and tame the unruly snarls. It was of no use, only a fresh shower and a comb could untangle the mess.

He turned and headed for her desk, bringing with him the black bag. Quickly and efficiently, Carlisle turned on the desk light and unpacked the items he would need to take care of her. Carlisle motioned for her to sit on the edge of the bed closest to the desk. She did so, nervous about having this vampire-turned-doctor looking at her wounds.

He sat as well, except in the rolling desk chair instead of on the bed. "Where would you like to start?" he asked in a clinical voice. "You definitely have the signs of a mild concussion – which means you need to stay off your feet and rest for the next 24 hours. One of the most important things for you to do is drink a lot of juice, eat red meat, and eat more leafy greens – especially since he has been taking blood from you." Carlisle paused, watching Bella nod in agreement and understanding of his instructions.

"Now," he continued, "I was told you had at least two bites, one on your wrist and the other on your neck. It appears he also bit partially through your lower lip –the swelling is very prominent."

Bella reached up to touch the swollen flesh as she forced the thought of Edward's rough kiss from her memory. "I have one other too…on my collarbone." She couldn't bring herself to say the word 'bite' out loud to Carlisle. She knew it was a stupid psychological lie – that if one doesn't say the word it makes the situation less real – but she was willing to embrace denial as long as possible.

"Let's start with your neck, shall we?"

She nodded in assent, turning her head to expose the thin mark to the doctor.

In her peripheral vision, Bella saw his golden eyes widen in surprise. She guessed it had continued bleeding even after she was asleep. A more morbid part of her wanted to ask if it was bad, if he had mauled her neck enough to do serious damage.

"I'm going to have to stitch this closed," he said, cutting through the silence. "This looks deep enough that it might need help closing cleanly."

Bella nodded again and Carlisle reached over to the desk to grab a syringe full of anesthetic. As she was no stranger to stitches, Bella did not ask any questions.

She felt a stab as the needle entered the skin near the wound followed by the cold rush of anesthetic, then tugging as he sewed the wound shut. As he worked, Bella's thoughts were trying to figure out a way to ask Carlisle questions about Edward without provoking his temper again.

After all, knowledge was power in this situation. Not only did she have to deal with Edward's obsessive behavior, but now she also had to outsmart at least three other vampires to make her escape from this hell.

While she was confused about what prompted Carlisle's appearance in her bedroom tonight, she was partially grateful for it. He could at the very least provide her with the medical attention she had been lacking since the first time Edward had decided to sink his teeth into her body. She was lucky to be receiving medical care at all but wished it did not have to come with the introduction of another dangerous stranger into her life. At the same time, it wasn't as though she could ask her father to take her to the hospital to be looked at.

Oh Charlie. What would he say if he knew that his daughter was being slowly devoured from the inside out? Bella's attention drifted past being treated and into the next room where her father lie sleeping. She wished, for a fraction of a moment, that he knew everything that was happening to her. She wished Carlisle would drop his scissors or tweezers onto the hardwood floor and make a sound loud enough to wake Charlie from his rest. She could easily imagine it: her dad would come in, disheveled and angry and hopefully holding the gun she wasn't supposed to know he kept in his bedside table.

Though it was doubtful the weapon was a real threat, Charlie's appearance might force the strange vampire to make a hasty exit.

She sighed as she considered how she was going to hide her injuries from her father. He worked long hours, but there was no way she could avoid him until she healed completely.

As she puzzled over this, the doctor worked quickly and efficiently in the silence of the bedroom. Bella opened her mouth once to ask a question, then immediately closed it without uttering a word. This continued for a little while as Carlisle repeated his pattern of anesthetic, washing the effected area with distilled water, stitches, antiseptic, gauze, bandage for not only the wound on her neck but also her wrist.

He paused when she pointed to the bite on her collar, giving a slight frown. "This doesn't appear to need any stitches as it isn't quite as deep as the others. How many times did you say he bit you?"

"Five," she answered casually as she tried to push back some of the frustration she was feeling.

Carlisle was startled at the laid-back way she provided the information. Edward had bitten her five times? How had she not succumbed to death yet? How had he resisted pumping her body with venom each time he tore the seal of her skin? Carlisle was unsure of whether he should be proud of his progeny or disgusted.

Bella struggled with whether to provide more insight to Carlisle or not about Edward's eating habits. Perhaps if she did, he could help her find better ways to recover. She was achy all over from her run through the woods, her joints felt like weak putty, and she still had a pounding headache.

Cold fingertips gently prodded at the wound before they reached for a bottle of antiseptic. As he squeezed the cold liquid over the bite, she silently watched, wincing at the stinging pain. She did not remove her gaze until he had finished the steps of cleansing and then bandaging the mark.

He continued to her lip, giving her a warning before he touched it: "It looks like most of the wound is on the inside of your lip." He turned it outward with both of his hands to examine the cut, frowning at the rough edges. "I need you to hold your lip right where I'm holding it, okay?" She nodded, replacing his hands with hers. Carlisle proceeded to carefully disinfect and then place several tiny sutures on the inside flesh of her lower lip.

As he rubbed an antibiotic ointment on her stitches, silence filled the room once more.

Her eyes met his, which immediately went to study the exposed skin of her shoulders and neck. "Do you have any allergies?" he asked, abruptly breaking the quiet.

Bella gave him a strange look, confused as to why he would ask something so obscure.

"This is important," Carlisle said as he made sure to make eye contact.

"No, I don't have any allergies. Why do you ask?"

"You have a rash that is spread across your body," he answered. "I wonder if you brushed up against some poison oak or nettles."

She gave him a slight nod, sort of a non-committal response. She knew that even if she had brushed against some kind of rash inducing plant, she would have been too terrified to take note of it yesterday. Though…the more she thought about it, the more she considered an alternate possibility.

"I think it's from his saliva," she blurted out. She knew it made her skin burn painfully whenever his mouth and tongue touched it and he had definitely taken a liking to tasting her body.

Carlisle leaned in a little to examine some of the effected skin. "You're probably right," he concluded, "though we do not have saliva. Every fluid in our body is replaced by our venom – a liquid that is very potent to every creature, even others of our kind."

"That's why it burns," she said, turning her face toward the window. She was still surprised her captor had not tried to interrupt this conversation.

"Yes," he replied simply. "That would definitely explain the pattern across your body. He was obviously marking his territory."

Bella shuddered, drawn back into the hushed cries of her dream self. _Yours. Only yours, Edward. _

She recalled the feel of his strong hands caressing her flesh and tried to ignore the way heat flooded her system.

Carlisle attempted to ignore the subtle change in her scent, partially stunned by her physical reaction to his comment. She enjoyed Edward marking her as his? This girl grew more interesting by the second. As much as he wanted to ask questions of her, he knew his first duty was to protect his coven at all costs. The rulers of his race would not provide mercy to those indulging a curiosity.

Plus he knew he would have his hands full with Edward. There was no doubt in the elder vampire's mind that once Edward smelled Carlisle on her, he would hunt him down. He had never been one to share his spoils with anyone – even when he was following a vegetarian diet.

"Bella, did Edward tell you when he was returning?"

She shook her head in a no. "I was unconscious when he left and he provided no instruction for me before I went to bed."

He thought about explaining the inevitable to Bella but decided against it. He was positive she knew she was living on borrowed time at this point. Even if Edward had never explained the ruling class of vampires, she understood she could not continue physically or mentally with this kind of treatment. One way or another, Edward had to end it all.

If she didn't die first, that is.

As Carlisle was pondering how best to broach the subject, he heard the sounds of movement in the next room. It had to be her mother or father, ready to wake for the day. His time had run out, uncertainties making the usually calm doctor a bit anxious. He was unsure of how best to warn her, of leaving her with a concussion and infected wounds, of having her continue to be at his son's mercy. At this point, it wouldn't be long before Edward drained the life out of her.

The sounds next door were getting louder – footsteps moving around the room as they gathered the items they needed to get dressed. A loud thump caused Bella to whip her head quickly toward the source of the sound.

"That's Charlie," she said quietly, urgency in her tone. "You have to leave before he comes in here to wake me up!"

Carlisle nodded and moved to quickly clean up his supplies on the desk. He swiftly replaced everything in his black bag and went to the window, opening it wide. "Be careful, Bella Swan," he cautioned her. His gold eyes narrowed, holding contact with her brown ones. "And stay away from my family."

With those words, the blonde vampire disappeared through the window and into the dawn.

Bella stood and tried to pull the ruined covers back into some semblance of order on the bed. She slipped under the mussed blankets and rolled onto her side so that she was facing away from the door. She made sure to cover herself up to her chin to avoid Charlie seeing any stitches or bandages.

Right as she closed her eyes to feign sleep, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She tried her best to fake sleepiness by making a non-committal sound. Charlie knocked again and this time proceeded to open the door.

He was dressed in his uniform, his leather gun belt already strapped around his waist. "How are you feeling this morning, Bella?"

She tried her best to sound ill and mumbled, "I'm still not feeling great, Dad. That flu is tenacious."

Charlie's face drooped in concern and he walked into the room. He came straight to her bedside, putting the back of his hand to her forehead. "You do feel warm," he commented. "I think it would probably be good for you to stay home another day just to make sure you can get rid of this bug."

She nodded carefully, internally praying that he wouldn't notice the swollenness of her lip in the early morning light. Bella cautiously turned her face deeper into the cover of the pillows.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked as he put a comforting hand on her head. "I can bring you more of that flu medicine you like on my lunch break."

"No thanks Dad, I still have some from the last time you bought it," she said. "Thank you though." Bella decided it was probably time to change the subject now before her father noticed how tightly she was clutching the covers. "Early start at the station?"

Charlie stood and adjusted his belt. He gave a heavy sigh and replied, "Yeah, another early morning. Apparently one of the officers is feeling under the weather too and decided to stay home."

"That stinks," she said. "I'm sorry. When do you think you'll be home?"

"Probably around six?" he answered. "It depends on when the night deputy decides to show up. Last week he didn't show up until 8 or 8:30." Charlie started to head for the door, pausing before he exited to turn and face his daughter. "I'll try and figure out a way to get home early though, Bells. I hate leaving you here alone when you're sick."

Bella turned her head and managed a weak smile, trying to ignore the stinging pain in her lip when she did so. "It's okay Dad. I'll be fine. In fact, I will probably read all day and make some soup."

Charlie smiled at her. "Alright, then I will see you at six. Get some rest."

He turned to leave, but Bella found herself stopping him for the second time this morning. "Dad?" she asked. He stopped, turning again to face her. Though it made her uncomfortable, she couldn't help but say, "I love you."

Charlie flushed and shuffled uncomfortably. "You too, Bella." Without any further comment, he left, shutting the door behind him.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

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**No, your eyes are NOT deceiving you! It's an update! I would really like to apologize for how long it's taken to get around to posting this chapter. I made a major move and started a brand new job all in the last couple of months, which has kept me incredibly busy. Plus I have no internet access about 98% of the time (other than on my mobile phone.)**

**Chapter 12 is already finished and beta'd – I just need to go over it one more time before posting it. Just a warning: things are starting to get very ugly in the next chapter. For those who are afraid Bella is just being tortured, I ask that you stick with me a little longer. We are going to see a definite change in her situation and in her behavior. Edward is going to experience a little pain of his own. This is going somewhere, I promise.**

**Please go give hugs to my beta, Octoberland, who beta'd over 24 pages for me (between this chapter and the next) and makes each chapter better because of her keen eye for detail and her awesome suggestions.**

**And…this excites me greatly…Lovegame has been nominated for an Immortal Sin Award! Thank you to whoever decided to nominate this story – I'm so excited and proud to even have a nomination! If you'd like to vote for LG, please check out**

**darksper (dot) blogspot(dot)com**

**and follow their links to the voting page.**

**Thank you so much for reading and for the kind reviews. Please let me know what you think or if you have any theories! Feel free to twitter stalk me: I'm msmoneybeet**


	12. Chapter 12

**Your eyes aren't deceiving you**: **it's an update! Happy Halloween! **

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Bella listened carefully to the sound of the police cruiser's engine being started and then the crunch of tires as Charlie backed out of the driveway.

Her hands shook as she rolled onto her back. She tried to quell the tremors by giving herself quiet assurances: Charlie was safe. He had left. Any punishment he might provide would be aimed solely at her.

As she stared at the ceiling, she considered all that had happened this morning. The one thought that stood out among the rest was how pissed off Edward would be when he returned. She wasn't sure where he was or how long he would be gone, but knew he would not be pleased that another vampire had been in her bedroom.

He would be enraged when he discovered that the stranger had treated all of his bite wounds. At this point, she knew she needed medical attention for the bites. They were not healing –especially her wrist, which was now black with bruising. It wasn't as though she could go visit her regular doctor. She was bound by her word to keep Edward's secret, which would most assuredly be revealed if she were to show anyone the wounds. It was better it was Carlisle, as much as it left a bad taste in her mouth, then breaking her vow.

Carlisle's visit had also confirmed one of her suspicions: that these wounds were some kind of marking, some kind of way for him to further his claim over her.

The strange doctor had done an excellent job of treating her physical ailments. He was such a strange anomaly. He was the sire to the most ruthless and cruel being she had ever seen, yet a human doctor at the same time. He did not feed on the lifeblood of humans and claimed he had a family. She had to admit, Carlisle had sparked her curiosity about Edward's past life. Her captor had been a member of this family at one point. What exactly had changed? What had turned him into a monster?

Carlisle had mentioned that Emmett, the big vampire with the gold eyes from the forest, had urged him to come tend to her wounds. Perhaps he would be willing to provide some information?

She considered how she would contact him for quite some time, lying on the bed and trying to think of various methods. In the end, it only served to frustrate and annoy her. She knew she would not be able to contact Carlisle or anyone else in his family unless they wished for her to reach them.

By now the morning hours were in full swing. She looked over at her clock and saw that it was close to eight. Though her entire body ached, Bella peeled the covers back and stood. She slipped on a sweatshirt that had been draped over the foot of her bed and went downstairs to find some breakfast.

Bella went down the stairs carefully, trying to avoid jarring any of the freshly bandaged areas. She tried to ignore the continued shaking of her hands as she opened the refrigerator to get a peach. She figured the soft flesh of the fruit would be easy for her to eat after she cut it up into smaller pieces.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would not be alone much longer. As though he had heard her thoughts, Bella felt a sickening chill roll down her spine. She knew he was watching her again.

From where, she was not sure. She knew as soon as he caught Carlisle's scent in the house he would reveal himself. And then she would simply have to hold on.

She moved away from the fridge and to the left, reaching into a drawer to get a knife. When he still did not appear, she started slicing the fruit. Juice oozed from the yellow-orange flesh, flooding the rows of grout between the tiles and dripping to the floor.

Her hands struggled to remain steady enough to pull off a paper towel to clean up the sticky mess. Once she had ripped off the piece of towel, she mopped up the sticky liquid as best she could. Her hand clung to the paring knife; mistakenly thinking the scrap of sharpened metal could protect her from the inevitable.

A cold hand on her shoulder almost caused Bella to drop it. She whirled around and tried to thrust the knife deep into the intruder's side but instead watched in disbelief as the steel blade bent and broke away from the handle.

It was terrifying. Bella took a step back from him but he closed the distance effortlessly. He came at her, eyes ablaze in anger.

"Don't _ever_ do that again, Isabella," he hissed as he kicked the useless handle away from them. "Unless you would like me to do the same."

As he drew closer to her, she noticed his handsome features were now distorted by the hate so clearly clouding it, lips set in a snarl that made Bella's legs feel even weaker. She knew this was coming. Carlisle's visit no doubt was the catalyst for Edward's foul temper and she had only worsened it by trying to stab him with her pathetic joke of a weapon.

He was immediately in front of her, his fingers tangling deep into her hair. "Why do you smell like _him_?" The last word was spit at her, the disgust evident. "What is _this_?" The fingers in her hair tightened, pulling hard on the strands and ripping some of it free from her scalp. His free hand gripped her bandaged wrist and brought it up his eye level for him to examine it. "He touched you. They promised he would never intervene!"

She winced in pain at the volume of his voice and his rough handling. "He only came to treat my infected wrist. He said he wasn't going to help me but he wasn't going to allow me to die either."

Edward jerked her closer to him by her wrist and put his nose directly against the bandaging. "Is this the only place he treated?" His voice was painfully strained with the control required to prevent him from going after Carlisle this instant.

The sound of ripping filled the room as he tore away the white cotton wrapped around her wrist with his teeth. He snarled at the smell of antiseptic and ointment tainting her natural scent. "Where else did he touch you, Isabella?" he demanded in a low hiss. She shook her head, almost unable to comprehend what kind of response he would have to seeing more of Carlisle's expert bandaging dotted across her body.

When she did not immediately reply, he released her wrist to run a hand along the collar of her shirt. Her wide brown eyes watched warily, knowing he would assuredly snap when he discovered the tiny stitches sealing the wound on her neck shut. The tapping of his fingertips as they danced across her collarbone distracted Bella, instantly reminding her of her dream from earlier. Her mind backtracked to the feeling of those same fingers gently pattering out the rhythm of her heartbeat against her bare hip, of the way they caressed her sides and anchored her body against his.

A loud tearing sound as he split open her shirt with his unoccupied hand interrupted her thoughts. She tried to cover herself but he easily swatted her hands away, revealing the thick white square covering the bite on her collar. She felt the weight of his stare on the exposed flesh, particularly focused on the plainly clear mark.

The fingers in her hair tightened further, almost driving Bella to her knees with the pain. Edward towered over her, the expression on his face blackening with every second that passed and every bit of new skin that was exposed. He forced her head to the left, showing a third bandage.

Wordlessly, those cold fingertips grasped the edges of the square cotton on her neck and wrenched it away without any concerns for the pain it might cause.

The area around the wound smarted as the first layer of skin was peeled back and the stitches Carlisle had applied strained. Some of them split open, making Bella wince in discomfort. The local anesthetic Carlisle had applied to the skin was starting to wear off, but not enough for her to feel distinct pain. Instead, all she could feel was the warmth of blood trickling down the slope of her neck.

"Oh Isabella, how I'm going to enjoy punishing you for this," he said reverently. "Let's start here, shall we?"

Bella squirmed, uncomfortable with the vulnerability of having her neck exposed to him. She could also feel a crick in her neck developing at the forced position.

She knew it would do no good to beg. It had never changed things in the past, so what help would it provide now?

She felt something sharp against her skin and was positive it was his teeth. "Now to get rid of these…" the whisper was distracted, audible only to Bella because of his proximity. She distinguished a series of pricks against the wound followed by that same feeling of warmth dripping down her slightly numbed flesh and into the strands of hair clinging there. Never in her life had Bella been more grateful for the large needle full of anesthetic that preceded stitches.

"Hold out your hand, kitten," he said as he withdrew his face from her neck. He did not release his hold on her hair however, forcing Bella to remain in the awkward and uncomfortable position.

She reached one shaking hand out in front of her. He pulled her by the hair down to her knees while he sunk down to his own. The same hand then yanked, making her tilt her head to stare into his crimson eyes. He held her gaze for a few moments, the silence thick between them.

Bella caught a hint of movement in her peripheral vision and her eyes focused in on it. His mouth was moving but not speaking – rather, it appeared he had something in his mouth and was toying with it. A thin line of blood was drawn across his lower lip and curved off the edge of it, causing red to dribble abstractly down his chin.

Her hand remained precariously outstretched between them as she continued to puzzle over what he was doing. There was a tug on the strands, wordlessly causing Bella's eyes to snap back to Edward's. He held her gaze even as he bent his head and put his lips to her palm.

She was much too focused on Edward to pay attention to the fact that he was spitting something up into the cup of her palm. His venom was thick and stained red, sticky as he spat up the little bits of suture. As he pulled away, the threads of venom glistened in the light of the kitchen as they dangled between her hand and his partially open lips.

Bella blinked heavily at the sight, trying to wish away the horror that was directly in front of her. Nausea swirled in her gut as she watched him slowly lick his lips to savor the flavor of her blood.

With his unoccupied hand, Edward pulled the remnants of Bella's shirt away from her shoulders and back. "No stitches here, I see." He grinned, burying his face into the bite mark on her collar. Instantly she froze. Across her body, her skin broke out into gooseflesh as adrenaline pumped through her veins.

Just like before, his cold tongue lapped at the mark. Venom stung the raw spots, causing little darts of pain to shoot across her body. He licked a horizontal path back and forth across her collarbone, teasing between pain and pleasure. Every once and while he would bite gently – not enough to break the skin, but enough to warn her of his easy ability to kill in a second.

The hands in her hair forced her head directly down to watch the progression of his lips over her pale skin, a progression that slowly allowed his tongue to trace the top of her breasts.

Bella was too afraid and too confused to try and push him away. She was puzzled by the way her body was going hot and cold under his attention, the way he was suddenly not violently punishing her for the visit from his sire.

His tongue hit a sensitive spot, causing Bella to give a small sound of surprise. He repeated the action, this time with his teeth joining in. Edward watched her bite her lip to hold back whatever reaction was fighting to come forth. "No, no," he said seductively, "No more biting your lip. I want to hear every sound you make, kitten." He made the same movement once more and a quiet moan escaped from Bella.

His face lit up at the sound. "Louder." His tongue ran back over the edges of her collarbone, paying special attention to the hollow of her throat just above it.

Bella's fingers flexed in appreciation and the palm holding the remains of the stitches that had been in her neck closed tightly, the arm dropping back to her side. Her eyes slid shut when she felt him trace the edges of his bite, the cold feeling so good against her overheated skin.

Her eyes remained closed as he closed the gap between their bodies, pressing his face deeper into her skin. She took in a ragged breath as he bit down almost directly over his previous bite. Bella gave a yelp of pain and tried to push away, prompting Edward to start sucking hard on the broken skin.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Her litany was interrupted by a low hiss of displeasure from Edward. Her eyes blurred with tears and her already weak limbs quivered. "I didn't ask for Car-"

"Enough!" he interrupted, yanking his mouth free from the wound. "Forget him! You will forget him and never let him near you again!"

Bella's face crumpled as his handsome features twisted into a snarl. "He wasn't going to help me. I didn't ask him for help. I didn't want him to come into my room in the middle of the night or to stitch up your marks. He said Emmett asked him to come and check on me," she babbled.

The previous hiss of displeasure reemerged at the mention of Emmett's involvement in Carlisle's nighttime visit. "Emmett is going to suffer for this," he promised her. "He was reluctant to leave you with me, and his thoughts betrayed his desire to snatch you away."

Bella was surprised to hear that Emmett had considered removing her from the situation completely and not just to see a doctor. Would he have helped her finally get away from Edward?

From their brief interaction she could surmise that he was different from Edward in not only diet, but also attitude toward humans. He had disagreed with Edward's methods and the fact that he was pulling her away from everything she had ever known. She recalled how Emmett had actually defended her.

The words had been muddled, but Bella had followed bits of the conversation. Essentially, Emmett had wanted to take her to a doctor and Edward had violently objected to the idea. She couldn't remember the details of the argument, but the rage she had seen in Edward's eyes was imprinted on her memory.

Like right now. He was fuming before her, the very same anger clearly painted across his features. She was scared and confused, worried about the reaction she was having to him. There was something changing within her –yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"You will stay away from all of them," said Edward, swiping his tongue through the fresh blood. She winced at the now familiar prickling of his saliva wherever it touched her skin, broken or not.

"I never asked to have any of them to touch me," she protested, wishing she had the strength to dispel him.

"You had better pray they never touch you again, kitten," he said coldly.

Her blood ran cold at the promise sealed within his words.

His attention shifted back to the black and blue bite on her wrist. He turned his head, sniffing deeply at the site. "I hate the smell of Carlisle's stench here," he put his lips to the wound, "it ruins your lovely floral scent. The antiseptic and bandaging can't heal you like I can."

"W-what do you mean?" she was taken aback by the delusional nature of his words.

His lower lip caressed over the raw mark, surprisingly delicate. "It's too bad your blood is so delicious…I doubt I will ever tire of its taste." He paused, eyes shifting back to Bella's face. "Antiseptics and bandages only cure human injuries, and you do not have normal human wounds. Their effectiveness is limited at best. My venom can seal a wound faster than the traditional" his eyes shot to her fist holding the bits of stitches as he continued, "methods."

What bothered Bella was the gut wrenching feeling that he was withholding information from her. She caught the hint of another level to his words that made her thoughts race back to the belief that he would never let her go…back to her fear of being forced to carry out the rest of her existence as his plaything. A cold sweat broke out across her forehead as the pieces clicked into place, the possibility distant but nevertheless enough to cause her to panic: he could make her like him.

Neither prospect seemed appealing to her in the slightest. Either die once she outlived her usefulness or die when he turned her into a demon like him.

She felt him release her wrist and hook his newly freed arm around her waist. He pulled her up into a standing position in one fluid motion and backed her into the refrigerator. The fingers tangled in her long hair loosened and slipped down to tip her chin up toward his face. His index finger moved over to tap her still swollen bottom lip.

"What about here? Did he try the traditional methods here as well?"

Bella frowned, trying to hide her fear behind the anger that was rapidly bubbling up in her chest. "He did," she assented; afraid of how he would respond. Though the comment probably wouldn't cause him to give her mercy, she knew he would easily see through her lie and make the punishment worse.

His finger grazed over her lip before going back to her chin. Without any warning, he slammed his mouth down on hers and sucked hard on her bottom lip. She tried to twist away but it was, as usual, no use.

Her protests were muffled as her fists pounded against his chest. He ignored her easily. She felt a sweep of his tongue on the soft flesh of the inside of her lower lip, the movement hampered by the rough bit of stitches that held together the place where he had bit down on her lip yesterday.

She whimpered - the numbness from the anesthetic was nearly gone in the area. At the sound, he pulled back a couple of centimeters to speak.

"You know those have to go, don't you?" he asked with a dark smile.

"No!" she shot back. "Get away from me. Stop it! I don't want to die of an infection because you decided to rip my stitches out!"

He snarled loudly over her protests, effectively silencing her. "No more!" he roared. "You seem to have forgotten that you are at my mercy, Isabella. Your life is in my hands and you are testing my patience."

She started to open her mouth to say something back to him, but he shoved two of his fingers into her mouth. They pressed painfully on the stitches on the inside of her lower lip.

Bella wanted to scream.

He pinched the place where Carlisle had tied off the sutures and gave a tug. A loud yelp of pain escaped her, prompting him to tug on it again. When they didn't give, his smile widened. He leaned in close to her ear and said, "I suppose this means I get to use my teeth."

She was tempted to bite down on his fingers to see if that could momentarily distract him from his current course of action. The only thing that prevented her from doing so was the movement of the digits in question to pull her lip down and expose the mark.

Bella knew what was coming and gave a helpless sound of fear. Her hands were wrapped around his wrist, trying to push it as far away as possible. She wanted to scream profanities at him, tell him exactly how much she hated what he has done to her, but was too afraid of the consequences. "Please don't do this," she managed in a garbled voice.

She watched helplessly as he leaned in again – this time poised to place his teeth over the mark. She turned her head and his grip tightened to squeeze her waist painfully. She stilled long enough to put his teeth to the stitches in her lower lip and give a jerk.

Bella cried out as the throbbing fire of pain spread out from the reopened wound. She could smell the coppery notes of blood as they filled the air. He removed his perfect mouth from hers and grinned at her. He had splotches of red marring his immaculately white smile.

Tears clouded her eyes as her lip pulsed in agony. She could distinguish the touch of cold fingertips again at the site feeling around for the rest of the sutures. A dark laugh preceded a hard yank on the flimsy thread, shredding tissue as it was carelessly taken out.

Bella was crying now at the combination of humiliation and physical pain she was in. With a sob, her knees gave out.

He withdrew his bloodied fingers, gathering Bella into his arms. She was gasping through her tears, mumbling repeatedly, "I can't continue this. I can't continue with this. I would rather be _dead_."

He held her close to his body as he went out of the kitchen and made his way up the stairs. The girl remained silent during the entire way, not even protesting when he placed her on the bathroom linoleum. He leaned into the shower stall and turned the hot water on full, the cold water an afterthought.

Edward reached down to pluck her from the floor and place her on her feet. Bella curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her torso. He took in how she looked in the dim lighting of the bathroom, so beautiful in his eyes.

She was pale, the creamy tone of her flesh almost dewy because of the strain he had placed on her body and the steam collecting in the tiny space. He savored the way tracks of blood stood out against the starkness of her skin, the purplish blue of the bruises his fingers had left behind providing reminders of his presence.

Her flimsy tank top and shorts were stained with red and torn in the places he had seen fit to expose her. Edward swiftly put his arms back around her and pulled hard on the already destroyed clothing, tearing it from her.

Naked and shivering, he tightened his arms and pulled her into the shower for the second time in 24 hours. She stood awkwardly under the warm water, her whole body curved in on itself. She gave a hiss of pain when the water touched her raw wounds, causing her to try and flinch away.

Edward growled at her, pulling her back to his chest. He forced her under the water, immediately soaking his clothes through. She cried and bucked against his hold as pink water ran down the drain. He trapped her arms with one of his and held her fast while the other hand reached up to pull the showerhead down.

"No!" she shouted. "NO!" The hard spray of the water was thrust directly against the raw mess that was her bottom lip. Tears stung Bella's eyes but went unnoticed by Edward. He continued to wash her lip until he was satisfied, which meant enduring the pain for several minutes.

He continued this painful trend with each of the open wounds on her body. After this, he replaced the showerhead and pushed Bella away from his body long enough to remove his sopping wet shirt.

She watched with wide eyes as he proceeded to strip the rest of the clothes from his body. He opened the shower door and dropped them to the linoleum. Once the task was completed, he shut the glass door and turned back to her.

"Come here kitten," he said darkly. "I can still smell him all over you."

"Please let me go," she said, ignoring his request. "I will never let him touch me again, just please leave me alone. I can't. I just can't."

"Come here," he repeated. "You smell like him and I can't stand it any longer."

Edward grabbed her arms and easily evaded her flailing to get free. "Stop it this instant!" he growled at her. "You will stop!"

She immediately stopped.

He took her arms and positioned them around his neck so he could look down into her eyes. There was a pause as he waited for her to question him or potentially make an escape. She did neither, obviously too scared and too curious for her own self-preservation.

"Turn your head," he demanded. She did as he requested, surprised to feel the soft and cold of his tongue on her injured neck. The tingling of his venom coupled with the flow of the water made Bella's body shiver in delight. The water somehow helped dilute the burning sensation that usually accompanied his venom.

After a couple of swipes with his tongue, he pulled his head back and lazily looked her in the eyes. She said nothing, shaken by the lack of pain. His gaze drifted to the double bite on her collar and she wordlessly leaned back to expose it to him. Again, his tongue moved over each open sore and every bit of ragged flesh. From there he continued across her body to her wrist and finally to her lip.

Bella was still leaning against the tiled shower wall, lost in sensation. She was still terrified but could not understand exactly why the venom wasn't burning like before. Edward's hands went to rest on the wall on either side of Bella's head as his body pressed into hers.

He looked at her for a moment, hints of his earlier rage still evident on his face. His face drew close to hers as he closed the gap with his lips. Again, he was kissing her, taking her bottom lip into his mouth and running his tongue over it again and again. Bella tried to ignore the way the sensation affected her, causing her to fidget uncomfortably.

Once he was satisfied, Edward pulled back. Like earlier, a thin strand of his venom went from his lips to hers, catching the light in unique ways. He reached between them and wiped it from her top lip with his thumb. He then drew Bella close in his arms, his whisper breaking the silence:

"I'm going to make you regret Carlisle even looking at you, Isabella. Then you are going to watch as I rip him apart."

She gave a gasp of surprise at his words as his hard body pressed her tighter against the tile. His head dropped to her shoulder, kissing and caressing the skin there. Bella reached out with one hand to cautiously touch his forearm. He said nothing, so she delicately ran a fingertip over the hard flesh there, up into the crook of his elbow, and over his bicep until her hand was on his shoulder.

An acute wave of dizziness overcame her, prompting Bella to rest her forehead against his naked chest. It was cool despite the hot water and felt excellent against her throbbing head. Edward's attentions drifted a little lower, skimming down the side of her arm and part of her shoulder blade. He hit a particularly sore muscle that made Bella groan out loud. His mouth withdrew at the sound and he switched sides effortlessly, making sure to shift her body so he had the easiest access.

Bella shivered as the hot water started to cool around them. Edward reached over and turned the dials off and opened the shower door. A blast of cool air hit their naked bodies, intensifying Bella's shaking.

He led her out of the shower and grabbed a towel. What surprised her was his next action: tenderly he dried every inch of her body, being careful of her injuries. He quickly dried himself with the same towel before wrapping her up in it.

Bella cautiously followed Edward to her bedroom – the source of Carlisle's scent. The first thing he did was slam the windows open to allow the air to carry away some of the smell. Bella stood in her towel and watched as he gathered her bedding and piled it in the farthest corner of the room. "He will never come here again, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Come here."

She went to him without objection or complaint. He did not look as though he was going to harm her – though he had fooled her before. She was struck by a realization in this moment: that to escape, she would need to become a whole lot stronger.

He enveloped her in his arms, holding tightly to her.

Edward kissed her jaw, removing the towel from where it was wrapped around her body. She shivered at the temperature change, wondering why he hadn't told her to get dressed yet.

She was confused.

The towel fell to the ground right as she heard her bedroom door swing open with a loud creak. Edward smirked, the satisfaction clearly written all over his face as Bella gaped in horror and fear.

"Hello, Chief Swan."

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**Before I go run and hide, I would just like to thank Octoberland for her fantastic beta skills. She read this chapter at least twice and continues to encourage me to write the sickest Darkward I can imagine. Thanks too to all of you who continue to read and review. I will reply to your reviews as soon as I can - I have no internet and depend on stealing it from various places in order to post and get online. **

**As always, thanks for reading. Keep your questions and comments coming, I love hearing them! **

**3 Moneybeet**

**(off to hide now)  
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	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hi everyone, I would like to take a moment to both apologize and explain to you why this story hasn't been updated in so long. This chapter (for the most part) has been finished since November. However in mid-November my grandfather, who had been battling terminal lung cancer for over a year, took a turn for the worst. His cancer had spread to his brain, leaving him only weeks to live. He actually died a couple of days after his oncologist notified him of the news. He was and will always be one of my heroes and his death has impacted me in ways I never truly considered. **

**Now, given the nature of this chapter, it was impossible for me to even look at – let alone consider finishing it. I know it's been a very long time since I last updated and for that I apologize. Thank you for the support many of you have provided via Twitter and PMs. The encouragement is an amazing blessing in a time of great difficulty. Thank you. **

**I would also like to thank my long-suffering beta, Octoberland, for her editing work this chapter. She encourages me to be a better writer by pointing out all of my obvious flaws and telling me I can do better when the chapters I send her are just awful. **

**One final thing: WARNING: this chapter contains GRAPHIC descriptions of violence. If this is a triggery subject for you or you are too young to be reading an M rated story, turn back now.**

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**Last time:**

_"I'm going to make you regret Carlisle even looking at you, Isabella. Then you are going to watch as I rip him apart." _

_She gave a gasp of surprise at his words as his hard body pressed her tighter against the tile. His head dropped to her shoulder, kissing and caressing the skin there. Bella reached out with one hand to cautiously touch his forearm. He said nothing, so she delicately ran a fingertip over the hard flesh there, up into the crook of his elbow, and over his bicep until her hand was on his shoulder. _

_An acute wave of dizziness overcame her, prompting Bella to rest her forehead against his naked chest. It was cool despite the hot water and felt excellent against her throbbing head. Edward's attentions drifted a little lower, skimming down the side of her arm and part of her shoulder blade. He hit a particularly sore muscle that made Bella groan out loud. His mouth withdrew at the sound and he switched sides effortlessly, making sure to shift her body so he had the easiest access._

_Bella shivered as the hot water started to cool around them. Edward reached over and_ _turned the dials off and opened the shower door. A blast of cool air hit their naked bodies, intensifying Bella's shaking. _

_He led her out of the shower and grabbed a towel. What surprised her was his next action: tenderly he dried every inch of her body, being careful of her injuries. He quickly dried himself with the same towel before wrapping her up in it. _

_Bella cautiously followed Edward to her bedroom – the source of Carlisle's scent. The first thing he did was slam the windows open to allow the air to carry away some of the smell. Bella stood in her towel and watched as he gathered her bedding and piled it in the farthest corner of the room. "He will never come here again, do you understand?" _

"_Yes." _

"_Come here." _

_She went to him without objection or complaint. He did not look as though he was going to harm her – though he had fooled her before. She was struck by a realization in this moment: that to escape, she would need to become a whole lot stronger._

_He enveloped her in his arms, holding tightly to her. _

_Edward kissed her jaw, removing the towel from where it was wrapped around her body. She shivered at the temperature change, wondering why he hadn't told her to get dressed yet. _

_She was confused. _

_The towel fell to the ground right as she heard her bedroom door swing open with a loud creak. Edward smirked, the satisfaction clearly written all over his face as Bella gaped in horror and fear. _

"_Hello, Chief Swan."_

_

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_

From where the chief was standing he could easily make out the purple and blue bruises dotting Bella's shoulders and back. Her skin was raised and red between the marks, the pattern curving in loops across her back, along her spine, and up into her hairline at the back of her neck. Flustered, he averted his eyes from his daughter's nude form and focused on the strange man holding on to her.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded as he placed one hand on his gun." What the hell are you doing with my daughter?" Charlie stepped into the bedroom and pulled a stray blanket from the floor where Edward had discarded it. He wadded it up and threw it at the stranger with the direction, "Cover yourselves up."

Edward swatted away the blanket, as it was one saturated with Carlisle's scent. It had somehow managed to escape his initial sweep of the room while he had been focusing in on Charlie's thoughts.

The aforementioned thoughts were currently confused. He was wondering who Edward was and why he had refused the blanket to cover himself. He was puzzled by his daughter's lack of embarrassment; by the way she stood in silence and had not acknowledged him. And then his thoughts turned to nothing but hate and rage at this strange person's appearance in his daughter's room.

"Step away from Bella," he told Edward as he his fingertips slid down and popped the snap on his holster open. When Edward did not move after a few moments he repeated himself: "I said, get away from my daughter. You have ten seconds to put your hands up and get back or I will have to forcefully remove you."

Edward taunted Charlie by tightening his arms around the girl whose safety was in question. Tension filled the silent room before Bella attempted to placate her father. "It's okay Dad. Edward will do what you want."

The boy wrapped around Bella shook his head side to side in quiet disagreement before he said simply, "No."

"This is your final warning, boy," the father warned him. "I don't want to resort to force."

Bella looked up at Edward, trying to wordlessly convince him to simply cave to what Charlie wanted. She was pleading that he would play at human for a few more minutes and let her father live through the morning.

She knew it was idealistic of her to hope for such a thing, but she couldn't help it.

Rather than grabbing his gun, Charlie came around and grabbed Bella by the shoulders to pull her away from the stranger. Edward's grip remained firm for a moment or two before he relented, allowing her to slip away.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief from her father's side.

"Now get out of my house," Charlie demanded.

The bronze haired man standing before him simply smirked at the police chief. "Not without what is rightfully mine."

"_Yours_?"

He grinned at Charlie's question. "Yes. _Mine_. Always mine."

"Now listen here, kid. My daughter doesn't belong to anyone. Get out of my house right now before I take you into custody."

In a flash he was in front of Charlie, the loud thump of the human's head against the wall the only signal of his movement across the small room. She missed when Edward had reached down to wrap the towel back around his waist. Stunned, Bella's hands went numb and she went to aide her father, forgetting her own state of undress.

"Edward, no! You can't!"

She knew it was futile to plead; yet something within her couldn't help but make an attempt. This was her father. The man who visited her in the summers, the man who had taken her in when her mother had decided she was too much of burden to keep. He was trying to protect her because she couldn't even protect herself.

She was a failure in her desperate attempts to prevent her father from his impending death. Since Edward had appeared in her classroom, the timer had been counting down to Charlie's demise.

His time had officially run out. Charlie had made the mistake of returning home hours before he was due. Edward's scheming had provided him the perfect opportunity to eliminate the final obstacle to keep him from claiming her completely: her father.

And now she could only pray for Charlie's death to be swift.

Edward turned his head to face the girl even as he shoved the back of Charlie's head into the wall again. The frames on her wall shook from the impact of the blow, some shuddering and others falling to their destruction.

"Yes, Isabella. Yes. I can."

She surged to his side and tried to yank on the arm holding her father up against the wall. Edward hissed at her, his face furious. "Stay away. As soon as I finish with him, I will deal with you."

She did not stay away. Bella continued to grab wherever she could manage and try to dislodge Edward's hold. Charlie's face was slowly turning from red to blue as the hand across his throat was tightening.

"You're killing him! Let him go!"

She watched as his expression warped into a strange half-smile half-scowl. "Of course," he said. His hand weakened for a second or two, then gripped even tighter before he hurled the middle aged father though the door and down the stairs.

"NO!" shrieked Bella as she made a break for the stairs. Edward stopped her by stepping directly into her path. He wrapped his arms around her, restraining her smaller form even as Charlie gave a miserable moan of agony.

She pummeled the bronze-haired man with her fists, silent tears running down her face as she pleaded with him. Nonsensical things poured from her mouth as she tried desperately to convince the vampire to save Charlie's life, to deviate from his plan to murder the older man in cold blood. She turned her face away from him as she shouted over his shoulder, "DAD! DAD! RUN!"

Edward gave her a rough squeeze as he hissed in her ear, "Quiet, kitten." When she didn't quiet immediately, he spoke over her alternating yelling and gibberish in a commanding tone: "Calm yourself. _Now_."

Something in her responded to the forcefulness of his voice and she simply dissolved into quiet sobs. Cold fingertips brushed across her cheeks to remove the tears from their trek down her face, then graced the side of her jaw and down her bare neck. She involuntarily shuddered at the strange coldness, as she always did. Edward took two long strides across the room, snatching up a throw that was lying at the foot of her bed. He returned to her instantly, wrapping her in the thick fabric before tying the two ends together.

"Listen to me," he continued in that hard tone, "I am going to dispose of this _mess_ and then I will take care of you. You and I will leave this place. We have some…pressing matters to attend to with my former family. I can't have _Carlisle_ –" he spat the name "- appearing at your bedside every time I decide to have a snack." He brushed a thick lock of her hair out of her eyes as he continued, "You have always been and always will belong to me. They can try to take you away…but I will always find you and bring you back to be at my side."

Bella's thoughts went into overdrive. Perhaps if she promised to never leave him Edward would spare Charlie's life?

"I-I will never leave you if you let Charlie live," she managed through shuddering breaths. "If you do this one favor for me, I will willingly go with you…wherever you want to go. I will tell Carlisle to never touch – let alone look – at me again. I will do as you say. I…I will let you drink from me without complaint."

The red eyes of her captor seemed to be compelled by her final plea. It appeared he was considering it, gauging the possibilities in his mind. For a moment, she thought her plan had worked. For a moment she could see Charlie as an old man, still sitting in his favorite recliner and watching the latest Mariners game. She could see him laughing and smiling as the years pass, teasing his friend Billy, patrolling around Forks in his cruiser for teenage miscreants, polishing his service revolver. For a moment she had hope.

And then, a simple: "No."

From the finality in his tone, Bella knew it was time for her father to die.

"Stay in this room unless you would like to help me," Edward said coldly. He released her abruptly and smoothly shut the door in her face before she could make any sort of comment.

She hesitated for a moment as she considered what she might walk into if she were to go downstairs. The loud echo of snapping and a pained yell forced Bella's hand – she threw open the door and tore down the stairs and into the living room. What awaited her made her recoil.

Charlie was a broken man. His left arm was askew, his legs twisted into strange angles. Through the denim of one pant leg, she could make out the white of a bone protruding and the red of blood staining the flesh and fabric there. And the smell…it was metallic, cloying. She felt it stick to the insides of her nose and throat, prompting her to reflexively gag.

Her left hand shot up to cover her nose and mouth even as her right reached out to assist her father. He was too far away for the gesture to be of much assistance, so she drew closer until a cold hand shoved her in the opposite direction.

"No, no no," Edward told her in annoyance as he stalked toward her. "You were told to stay upstairs but instead decided to come try to play hero." He looked her over from head to toe, taking in her disheveled appearance. He could still smell Carlisle's scent on the throw he had draped across her body in his haste to take care of the business awaiting him downstairs. It was of no importance: he would make sure she would bathe in his blood. This would easily cover the stench of his own father figure.

"And now," he drawled, circling her slowly, "it's time for you to help me."

Bella swallowed heavily against the wave of nausea and her nerves.

"Take your dear old dad into the kitchen. Tile is much, much easier to clean than carpet."

She raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

In a flash he was nose to nose with her, his fingers clenched around her blackened wrist. She cried out in pain, her other hand immediately trying to pry his hand from her sensitive wound. The more she tried, the harder his grip became until there were tears in her eyes. "Do you concede?" he demanded. She shook her head in a defiant no and his fingers threatened to powder her bones.

She clenched her jaw against the pain for as long as she could stand. She held her breath while avoiding his prying stare until at last she could no longer handle the pain. "Enough!" she cried. He let go and pushed her toward Charlie's prone figure on the carpet.

"Come now, Isabella," he said as he perched on the edge of the beat up brown couch. "You wouldn't want to prolong his agony, would you?"

She swore she could hear her teeth grinding as she clenched her jaw even more tightly. "You _bastard_," she said, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she would be an accessory to her own father's murder. "You murdering, filthy, evil bastard. You monster!" She rounded on him, pushing against his shoulders with all of her collective strength. "I hate you! I hate you. Kill me first, you filthy bloodsucker!" She untied the knot holding the blanket up and allowed it to drop to the floor, baring her to his eyes. She knew he would be tempted by her show of vulnerability, of her offering up herself to sacrifice like the proverbial lamb.

"If this is what you want so desperately, why don't you come and take it? Take it all! End it now!"

His amused expression only fueled her anger. "Just drain me, Edward. Take what you want and let Charlie go! He doesn't know anything about what's happened here. He doesn't know what you are or what you're capable of, thank god."

Edward gave an exaggerated sigh as she paused in her rant to regain her breath. She was feeling lightheaded from the combination of physical exhaustion and Charlie's pained moans permeating the room. She wobbled a little on her feet, which made Edward smile further.

"Wrong." His simple comment caused Bella's head to snap up to stare him in the eyes again. "He saw me in your bedroom. He felt me slam his head into the wall and throw him down the stairs with one hand." Edward stood from his perch and ran a hand through Bella's hair. She jerked away from the contact and he used his free arm to hold her still. "His life is forfeit." She felt his cold nose run along the curve of her newly reopened neck wound, sniffing the fresh blood there.

His mouth passed over the mark, cooling the flesh with each slight exhale of his icy breath. "Only you can free him, Isabella." She shuddered at the thought. His cold lip grazed the soft skin just below the wound at her response.

Edward shook his head, lips fluttering across her pulse with the shape of his words. "He will die swiftly."

Bella's response was reflexive: "No!"

The arm across her stomach clenched. "Drag him to the kitchen or I will do it myself and then make you kill him instead." As she knew, Edward was not capable of making idle threats.

She gave a nod of acquiescence before shoving away from her captor. He released her with a push in Charlie's direction. She grabbed the pool of discarded fabric at her feet and tied it around her once more. She glanced down at the splayed form of her father, wondering what exactly was wrong with her. Why would she allow this? Surely there was a special place reserved in hell for those who betrayed their family.

She realized she was stepping farther and farther into the darkness. This move would seal the door shut behind her – locking out the last vestiges of any sort of light. She would be stuck between night and day but twilight would be the best she could ever hope for.

Her head turned to look back at the dark figure observing her. The self-satisfaction radiating from him made Bella feel nauseated. He knew exactly what he was demanding of her and he understood her helplessness would force her to give in to those demands.

Tears filled her eyes again as she crouched next to Charlie and offered him a final apology: "I-I'm so sorry, Dad. I love you." His brown eyes locked with hers, his stare burning through the perpetual cloud of fear and disgust in her mind. Unwillingly, this silent exchange had burned itself into the backs of her eyelids as well as her memories.

She was just as much a monster as he.

Charlie started to say something but was cut off by a barked order from Edward: "Enough."

_Forgive me,_ she thought even as her hands reached down to grab Charlie's shoulders with the hope that it would hurt him the least. _Forgive me, even if you end up hating me for this. _The confused shouts of pain coming from her dad seemed faraway and foreign to her ears. Hot tears ran down her face as she slowly and painfully dragged him into the kitchen.

She was huffing and puffing from a combination of the exertion and the overwhelming feeling of tightness threatening to crush her lungs completely.

Charlie was fading, his eyes were closed and his flesh cold and clammy to the touch.

"Dad," she tried as best as she could through her tears, "Dad, don't leave me. Please don't leave me yet!" His mouth was moving in response, perhaps mouthing a final pledge of forgiveness to ease his troubled daughter's mind.

She would never know, for in that moment, Edward stepped in. He reached over and shoved Bella away from Charlie. The back of her head cracked against the cabinet doors hard enough that black spots swarmed her vision for a moment.

While she was dazed, she heard a horrible ripping sound followed by an agonized yell. Something warm splattered her face and in her confusion she reached up to wipe it away. As her vision cleared, she realized she was focusing hard on her fingertips.

They were stained with warm red blood.

She cried out in fear and her gaze focused on Charlie. As soon as he came into her line of sight, she wished she had avoided coming downstairs altogether. Edward had mercilessly torn her father's right arm from its socket.

Bella gagged up bile and spit, choking on it. Her stomach heaved and heaved until she was sure she had nothing left.

Edward stared her down as he licked his fingers clean of the blood. "Watch, Isabella. You brought this upon yourself."

She closed her eyes in defiance but the move backfired – all she could see was her father's wordless pleas as he lay on the carpet like a butterfly with crushed wings. Her eyes shot open and she instead turned away from the gruesome scene.

"No." The whisper was barely more than a gasp but he still heard it.

"Fine," he responded. That distinct sound of tearing started again and Charlie cried out again. This time he pleaded for death.

"Remember, you are the one who made this difficult. You brought this upon your father and yourself."

"Why do you keep repeating yourself?" she demanded.

There was a long pause before he replied.

"I don't want you to forget a moment of this morning, Isabella. I want you to remember every drop of your father's blood spilled here. I want you to be sure I am not the only monster in this room right now."

His words caused her to recoil. She was a monster too.

The realization caused Bella to let out a wail. "I could never be like you! Never. You've manipulated me into doing exactly what you've desired all along. You've made me like this."

Bloodied hands wrapped around her wrists, tugging at them forcefully. She turned back to face him, her face burning with shame. "I will never be like you."

"Wrong," he corrected her. "You're _exactly_ like me."

He could feel the tenuous hold on her sanity starting to slip away as he pushed her. He wanted to shove her deep into the darkness of his world, into the insanity of his existence. Soon. So soon. It wouldn't be much longer now.

Her weak humanity continued to be his most powerful weapon against her. He loved that she wanted to fight him. He loved that she was every inch the spitfire his "sister" had predicted she would be.

He took a step back from Bella in the tiny kitchen filled with the smell of death and the sweat of suffering. "Shall I finish this, pet? Shall _we_ finish this?"

She shook her head. "You," she quietly told him. "You started this, so you will finish it. Alone."

He nodded and released her wrists. "You will still watch." His unspoken threat hung in the air between them.

"Yes," she acquiesced.

For the first time she took in her surroundings. The kitchen was painted a vibrant crimson, the red so bright it hurt her eyes. What had he done?

_Actually,_ she thought as she stood there, _what have _I_ done?_

She was again struck with the fact that this really was all her fault. She had allowed the game to continue. She had provided the opportunity for Edward to kill Charlie. She had managed to put him in danger despite her greatest efforts to do the opposite.

She lamented the sheer quantity of blood – her thoughts taking on a morbid bit of scientific consideration: the body had how many pints of blood again? Could every last droplet be expelled onto these walls?

Edward noted her distraction and cleared his throat to gain her attention. "I hate to see all of this blood go to waste. What about you, Bell-ah?" He purposefully elongated the syllables in her name, a childish way of taunting her.

"Don't you dare," she hissed at him, the anger filling up the spaces where grief didn't quite reach. "Don't you dare!"

He gave her a coy smile as he bent down next to Charlie's neck. He inhaled deeply at the man's pathetically sluggish pulse. The man was still alive despite missing an arm and a leg.

Bella felt frozen in place as she watched Edward sink his teeth into her father's carotid artery. His cheeks hollowed as he sucked the blood roughly from the dying flesh, his hands coming up to grab Charlie's shoulders so hard that she could hear tendons popping under the pressure.

She watched helplessly as the life was literally drained from her father before her eyes. In Charlie's final moments, his remaining limbs twitched as he though he was trying to fight back the inevitability of his death. Bella's body unfroze and she moved closer to make an attempt to comfort him.

At the sound of her footfalls, Edward turned his head and bore his pinkish-red stained teeth at her. He hissed menacingly, the sound coming from the lowest parts of his throat. Reflexively, she took a step back from him.

The vampire glanced down at his kill for a moment and then looked back up at Bella, his angry expression slowly melting back into a smirk. He leveled one ear to Charlie's chest as he searched for a heartbeat. She watched his smirk turn into a full on smile, the corners of his mouth turned up enough to remind Bella that he was insane. Behind that handsome face he was nothing more than a sadistic murdering demon.

"Help me move him one more time?" he asked with a strange edge to his voice.

Charlie was dead. Charlie was _dead_. The wave of nausea spread like a cold wave over her entire body. Her hands shook as she stepped toward her father's limp form that was cooling even as she stared at him.

"Y-Yes." The thought that she would have no chance to grieve threatened to break her in two. She stared at him, noting the way his skin was graying and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling and was left wondering: when would this be her fate too?

For now she simply was left to pick up the pieces of her life and do as he said. For how long, she couldn't be sure – but she knew she would find a way out from this hell.

Edward's strong arms hauled Charlie's remains over his shoulder like a sack of garbage, blood smearing his ashen skin. "Grab his limbs," he said.

She closed her eyes against the nausea welling deep in her stomach. When she did not move immediately, Edward barked the order at her again. This time she forced her legs closer as she tried not to gag on the strong scent of blood surrounding the two appendages.

Hesitantly she gathered the arm and the leg, trying to separate herself from the situation. She closed her eyes, imagining herself in a beautiful field of wildflowers, the smells of summer filling the room. There were no monsters, for the sun would banish them. There was no death, for the world was filled with the vibrant blooms of spring.

She was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of a loud thump. It startled her back into the present – the peace of her daydream easily shattered. She glanced at him, noting he had his fist poised against the wall.

"I tire of your disobedience, kitten," he told her from across the room. "I know you're eager to return to our business before we were rudely interrupted but this requires our attention now."

"You're wrong," she said petulantly. "I never asked for any of this, as I've told you hundreds of times." She glared at him as she added, "I hope your family comes and rips you apart. I don't care if they kill me at the same time."

He gave her a hard look in return before dropping Charlie's lifeless body to the linoleum. She tried to ignore the way Charlie lay collapsed in on himself, his remaining arm reaching in her direction. Edward ran a hand through his disheveled hair and she noticed the way the crusty blood on his fingertips blended seamlessly into his bronze locks.

"Now, now, you can't really mean that," he said. She backed up as he drew closer, shadowing her movements until her back was to the wall. She closed her eyes, sure he would strike her. He ran the back of his hand against her cheek instead.

"We're going to go and address the problem of my maker and his coven, I assure you," he told her as he stroked her cheek. "They need a reminder to leave me be."

"There's no way you can win," she blurted out. "There's more than just Car-"

"NEVER say his name again!" Edward cut her off mid sentence, aiming his hand to strike her. She flinched, expecting the flash of pain. When it did not come, she cracked her eyes open in surprise.

"I have a better punishment than striking you, Isabella," he said, the smile sliding back across his features. "You're going to clean every last speck of blood from this room."

She started to protest but he cut her off again. "It's either that, toy, or I will have you help me dispose of the trash."

Anger welled up in Bella's chest, strengthening her resolve to fight him, albeit a weak attempt. "My father is not trash! He will never be trash! You asshole! He didn't deserve any of this!"

He continued to grin, licking his lips in anticipation. "When your heart hammers like that, it makes you smell divine."

His strange tangent served to distract Bella from her tirade. "What?" She tried to calm her heart rate as best she could by taking deep gulps of air into her lungs and letting them out in controlled breaths. "Don't touch me," she hissed as he pressed back into her body.

"Do as I demand and I will leave you alone. You know the rules." His reminder was akin to a physical blow to her chest. She did know the rules – and likewise, she understood exactly what she was to him. She was a pawn. She was his prey. And above all, she was definitely his to do with as he pleased.

Edward saw the defeat spread over her features, the anger melding into a passive acceptance. Good. She was learning. Oh how he enjoyed her fire though. She makes everything so much more interesting when she fights against him.

This girl had just watched her parent be ripped apart and yet she continued to fight. He wondered how she would handle her latest task: cleaning the kitchen of all the damnable evidence.

He hoped it wouldn't break her spirit too badly.

While she cleaned, he had a special task to accomplish. He originally thought it would be fitting to leave Charlie in the woods – make his death appear as a horrific animal attack or accident. Now he had a much better idea.

The thought made him grin in anticipation. This new idea was much, much more enjoyable for him. It would also horrify his little pet.

"You will stay here and clean the kitchen," he said, lowering his hand from its position. "For your sake, I hope you do a thorough job."

Bella's gaze darted around the gore-spattered kitchen. It would take hours, but in the end there would be no record of Charlie's death. She was curious though: where would Edward take Charlie's body?

She must have voiced her question out loud, as Edward immediately replied, "It's a special surprise for you. I think you'll enjoy it. After all, we want to pay our proper respects to the Chief of Police, right?"

On that cryptic note, he backed away from the girl. He leaned down and gathered the abandoned limbs before grabbing Charlie's corpse by the collar of his uniform. "I will see you soon. Get cleaning!"

Without any further preamble he hoisted Charlie up into his arms and swiftly walked out the back door. She assumed he probably set off in the woods, probably making an attempt to play off his death as an accident.

She was alone once more.

Another glance around the room made her stomach flip uncomfortably though she had nothing left to bring up. Her shaking hands reached up to tighten the throw around her body and then served to push her upright again. Immediately she set off across the bloody floor, slipping and sliding, to open the window above the kitchen sink.

The fresh air did little to help Bella's anxiety.

She forced herself to open the cabinet under the sink and retrieve the bottle of bleach and a bucket she had bought soon after she moved in. Charlie had teased her the first night she moved in about her desire to clean the kitchen from top to bottom before cooking anything.

The memory made her eyes sting again with tears. She rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes, willing the emotion away. _Clean up the mess now,_ she thought, _and cry later._

The normally disgusting odor of the bleach was a welcome friend. She poured a substantial amount of bleach into the bucket before placing it under the tap to add scalding hot water.

She tossed the rag from the sink into the bleach water and removed it from the sink, placing it on the counter. Where to begin?

She looked into the corner of the tiny kitchen roof, noticing a red splotch there.

Trying to control her quivering hands, she set to work.

* * *

**I laugh when I look back at chapter 1 of this story and see in my author's notes "characters might be a little OCC". Only a little? What was I thinking? **

**All I can say is thank you for sticking with me after such a long hiatus. This story will be finished, no matter how long it takes.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Previously: **

Edward has had his eye on Bella for quite some time. Before they meet face to face he watches her from her window nightly. He formulates a complicated plan of attack to draw her into the darkness of his world.

First he appears at Forks High School as a classmate. His schedule is aligned with hers so perfectly that he has every course but one with her. Bella shows a moment of vulnerability in biology class, whereupon he pounces on the opportunity to get a taste of her blood. He plays at friendship when he helps her from the biology lab but quickly turns to predator when he locks her in a nearby closet to have a snack.

Bella awakens with the knowledge that Edward is something unearthly. He quickly sets her straight: he is a vampire and she belongs only to him. To seal his words, he bites her once more. He tells her of the most important rule in his world: keep the secret. She agrees to do so, knowing that even if she were to let the cat out of the bag, no one in their right mind would believe her.

Edward takes care of her after his second meal. Bella asks why he would bother, to which he tells her of his fascination with her silent mind. Bella learns he can read minds (but not hers) and that her position has been upgraded from "food" to "pet". She threatens him with arrest, he laughs in her face and returns the favor. Edward threatens Charlie's life to keep Bella complacent. The two strike an uneasy deal: as long as she obeys Edward, Charlie's life is safe.

In the meantime, Bella is forced by her captor to pretend nothing is amiss. She attends school while he continues to keep an eye on her, taunting her. Edward spends every free moment reminding Bella that she is his possession now. He interrupts her sleep, her showers, while she is trying to dress. He wants her to understand that no matter how much she attempts to resist, she is still his.

The two have a confrontation in the hallway at school after Bella discovers exactly how long the vampire has been stalking her. During the argument she learns that Edward has a plan in place…a plan that centers on her.

He takes her into the woods for a little playtime as a punishment, a game of hide-and-seek that finds Bella deep in the woods without any way of finding an exit. She runs. He chases her. Eventually he pins her down before taking another taste. Edward kisses her, the insanity of his obsession with Bella showing in his erratic behavior.

Bella learns a bit of Edward's past. He once consumed the blood of animals, but has long since given up that lifestyle because it was far less satisfying. He tells her he prefers prey that tries to fight back. He likes the screams of terror and the pleas for their lives. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of one of Edward's acquaintances. Cruelly, Edward tells her this particular bit of woods is popular to nomadic human drinking vampires before leaving her alone.

He doubles back to where a familiar vampire, Jasper, is waiting for him. After a tussle with Jasper, Edward is issued a warning: if he continues down the path he's currently on, he will be destroyed. Jasper warns the Volturi will become involved the longer Edward keeps his human pet.

Edward cares less about the Volturi and more about whether his former coven will become involved. Jasper reassures him that the coven could care less about what he does with Bella.

Jasper notices that Edward's attention is only partially on him during their conversation. He's focusing on the girl. Jasper is fascinated by his former sibling's fixation on a human who is supposedly only a plaything.

Meanwhile, another of Edward's kin, Emmett, discovers Bella. Emmett is surprised that Bella is terrified of him and wants only Edward. He can smell that the girl is not healing well and wonders if he should take her to Carlisle for some medical care.

Emmett reflects on his relief that Edward is no longer a member of their coven. As Bella tells him about why she is in the woods alone, he is stunned at the level of Edward's cruelty.

With his resolve set to take her to Carlisle, he starts to gather Bella in his arms. She fights him, pleading for Edward. She insists that she can't go to a doctor. As Emmett is about to leave anyway, Edward appears and demands Bella back from him.

After strained conversation, Emmett reluctantly hands Bella over. Emmett is impressed by Bella's devotion to the very person that was bringing about her destruction. Before he departs, he gives Edward a similar warning to what Jasper already delivered previously: if he keeps Bella, he will destroy them both.

Jasper joins Emmett to reiterate the importance of their warning. Edward reminds them how little he cares. Before the two depart, Jasper is impressed by the Bella's feelings. There is something there that goes beyond simple dutiful devotion. However, at the time he can't quite put a label on it.

The two leave and Edward takes Bella back home. He showers her and takes her to bed – but not before a quick taunt and drink.

A strange and sexy dream reminds Bella of how deeply Edward's presence is in her life. She can't even shake him from her subconscious, poor girl. She awakens to find not Edward, but Carlisle at her bedside.

Carlisle sets to work treating the many bites Edward has placed on her body. He makes it clear that he is not here to help free her, only to make sure she stays alive. As he treats her injuries, Bella learns that Carlisle was Edward's sire. She also discovers that his coven operates like a family and that the two vampires from the woods are a part of said family. That the Cullens only consume animal blood fascinates Bella. She notices that they all had golden eyes rather than the red of Edward. It is confirmed to her that it is correlated with diet. Bella also learns that Emmett, the one who tried to help her yesterday, asked Carlisle to check on her while Edward was away.

The doctor departs as Charlie wakes up. Carlisle's parting words? Stay away from his family.

Bella plays at the flu to get another reprieve from school. She hates lying to him but knows going to school would expose everything Edward is trying to keep a secret.

Carlisle's visit supplies more questions about Edward's past than answers. She wonders if Emmett would be up for helping her escape, though she tries not to get her hopes up.

Edward appears while Bella is preparing breakfast and she tries to stab him with her pairing knife. It serves to irritate an already angry Edward, who hates the idea that another male vampire was touching his property.

He yanks her upstairs and proceeds to rip each and every stitch out of her body. Afterwards, he drags her to the shower to scrub her body with a ruthless intensity. Bella begs for death, Edward ignores her pleas. He revels in the fun of torturing her.

He reveals to her that his venom, when concentrated, has healing properties. He applies some of it to each of his bites to seal them and prevent further infection.

Sick and in pain, Bella watches as Edward strips her bed and gives her an order: Carlisle will never touch her again. She agrees. When she accepts his condition, Edward proceeds to wrap her in a towel, playing at tenderness.

What she does not expect is Charlie walking in on the two of them right as he drops her towel.

Charlie threatens Edward. Edward laughs in his face before launching across the room and slamming the Chief's head into a wall. Bella begs for her father's life but Edward only throws him down the stairs.

Edward tells Bella to stay upstairs or she would end up helping him kill Charlie. She remains upstairs until she hears her father's cries of agony. She comes down the stairs to discover her dad lying across the carpet like a crushed spider. Bella attacks Edward to no avail, even pleading for her death. She tells him she hates him. He laughs in her face.

Edward forces Bella to drag Charlie to the kitchen, which she does after a bit of arguing. While she watches, he proceeds to rip off one of the Chief's legs and an arm. All the while, Edward makes sure Bella knows she is the one who did this to him.

Bella is crushed at the realization that she is a monster too. Edward outlines that by allowing him to continue to control her, by playing his game, she forced Charlie to die.

To add insult to injury, Edward also proceeds to drink Charlie dry as Bella watches.

Afterwards Bella is told to gather up the loose limbs and follow him. Bella tells Edward that she hopes his family comes to rip him apart. He immediately reacts to her comment, forcing her to drop the limbs and back into the wall. He tells her that her new punishment is to clean up the mess in the blood-spattered kitchen. He also tells her he has special plans for the Chief's body.

Following that cryptic comment Edward leaves Bella to tidy up the mess he's left behind. This takes us up to date to this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 14: **

There was so much blood. Everywhere. Every nook and cranny of the old kitchen was splattered with the thick liquid – sometimes made worse by the bits of sinew and fragments of cartilage.

Through the hours she had seen enough of it to last a lifetime.

No matter how hard she scrubbed the stains refused to lift. She found a scrub brush and a container of bleach, not hesitating to pour nearly half of the bottle into her bucket before adding scalding hot water. At first she had hoped the bleach would smother the smell but she soon realized it only turned the odor to sourness, the burning fumes ingraining the stench into her senses permanently.

She felt lightheaded from the strength of the fumes. This was despite a brief pause in her work to open several windows. The slight breeze helped initially but soon the fumes won out, making the world spin in strange colors for a moment. At one point, she retreated to the front porch to ease the headache and wooziness.

The morning had passed and it was now afternoon, yet the room was only partially clean. Her back and shoulders ached with the strain of being on hands and knees for so long. She was sweaty and tired, her stomach pleading for food and water. It was difficult for her to recall the last time she had a decent meal. After _he _arrived her appetite had been lagging - his presence draining the life from her.

The gnaw of hunger in her gut caused a fresh bout of nausea. How could she even be _considering _food at the moment? Her father was dead and she was contemplating the last time she ate?

She couldn't help the morbid curiosity that bubbled up in regards to where Edward had taken Charlie's body. Had he decided to give the Chief a simple burial in the woods? To make it appear as though an animal had devoured his body? To Bella, Edward seemed exactly the type to make a spectacle. It was apparent he had been scheming about what to do with Charlie from the beginning.

The once faded and yellowed linoleum now appeared pink to her. She scrubbed at her eyes with her arm in an attempt to make the color go away. The pinkness remained, taunting her with its obstinacy.

She dropped the brush into the bucket with a sigh of defeat. This was the best she could manage as exhausted as she felt. If she had a choice, she would never again return to this house.

She stood, giving a feline stretch to get the kinks out of her back and knees before grabbing the bucket full of rosy bleach water. Carefully she made her way out of the room and opened the back door. She disregarded the need for shoes and simply stepped into the chill afternoon, headed for the trees.

Once she deemed she was deep enough into the forest, she unceremoniously dumped the contents of the pail into the dirt and moss. She stood with her head bowed, clenching the handle of the bucket tightly. With a roar of frustration, Bella hurled the plastic container as far as she could into the woods, ignoring the splatter of bleach and blood in her hair and on the sheet that covered her as it arced through the air.

The resounding thump in the bracken on the forest floor did not satisfy her irritation. The slight burn of the diluted chemical on her scalp and skin only served to feed her annoyance and she immediately thought about retrieving the bucket for another round. As she resolved to go out and get it, a hand wrapped around her forearm and yanked her backward.

"Throwing a fit, little one?"

That voice caused her jaw to clench hard against the retort threatening to burst out.

"Nothing to say?" his smooth voice asked again. He spun her around easily, even though she tried to resist him.

He was redressed in a black button down and a pair of dark jeans, his hair still slightly damp at the roots. The brightness of his eyes was vibrant against the gray of their surroundings. "Get away from me!" she hissed, trying to take a step backwards.

He smiled. "There we are, Isabella." His gaze was heavy on her body as he took in her disheveled appearance. She still wore what he dressed her in, the thin material barely covering her slight form. Her dark hair was tangled and splattered with the mess she had to clean up and she smelled of chemicals and sweat.

He thought with satisfaction, _Delicious_. His focus drifted to a splatter of red across her collar and he held back a wave of desire to run his tongue across the delicate flesh to collect those tiny spots.

_In time, _he reassured himself as she turned from him and sprinted to the house, _in time. _

He followed her with only a fraction of his speed from the woods into the house and headed straight for the kitchen.

"Get dressed," he said as he perched himself on the corner of Charlie's battered table. "We are going to pay a visit to my 'father'."

"I want to take a shower before you take me anywhere," she replied. She glared at him with all the intensity she could muster despite being emotionally exhausted.

"Only if you allow me to join you," he said. Edward knew he was pushing her deeper and deeper into the darkness of his world. She would either accept it or destroy herself before being consumed by it. A moment alone might cause her to act on one of her desperate escape plans.

Of course, it wasn't as though he couldn't catch her. He enjoyed a good chase but lacked the desire for his plans to be altered any further. He had already swayed so far off his original track. A smug smile slid across his features as he worked though the events of the past few days.

The plan was flawed, but still working out to his advantage.

Bella frowned. Could he not leave her be for five minutes? She gave a vague nod of consent and slowly trudged through the living room and up the stairs to the bathroom. Midway up the stairs he intercepted her, his movements so fast that she could not keep track of them. She shrieked in surprise before nearly falling down the stairs in her haste to get away.

He reached out and grabbed her around the waist before gathering her into his arms. Before Bella could catch her breath she was outside. She attempted to make a protest but Edward took off like a shot, stilling the words in her throat.

It could have been seconds, maybe even hours that he ran. She could scarcely make out the blurred shapes of the forest around her, but regardless lacked the sense of direction necessary to strategize a possible escape route.

When he placed her on the ground she stumbled from dizziness. He caught her before she could fall to the dirt. As she gathered herself, she was able to take in her surroundings. Before them was a small, dilapidated cottage. The peeling paint had been a light color earlier in life, though it now had been diluted down by the elements to a dingy white. She noticed that they were once more deep in the forest, far from the saving grace of humanity. A rusty red generator stood next to the front door, its humming loud enough to draw attention.

"Welcome to my home, Isabella." His words spoken into her ear startled Bella from her curious observations. He kept an arm around her and guided her through the doorway.

She was surprised at the surroundings: warm, well taken care of hardwood floors and soft, plush furniture. It appeared the cottage had one large room with a tiny kitchen to her right and a handful of closed doors. Edward picked her up once more, causing her to give a yelp of surprise.

"Put me down!" she demanded, the words as useless as ever. He ignored her and continued through the front room and into the bathroom. It was a small space with a large claw footed bathtub, toilet, and marble vanity housing a sink. Cabinets lined above the toilet and a large framed mirror hung above the sink. He placed her on the vanity, her head resting against the mirror.

She watched as he went to the tub, starting the water. He turned back to her, running one of his blood-crusted hands through her hair. He tugged at the elastic barely holding her ponytail together, pulling it out. His uncharacteristically gentle fingertips combed through her locks, working through the snarls.

The movement was soothing, almost hypnotic. Her head rolled to the side, her pulse calming under his ministrations. The room was quiet aside from the soft sound of her heartbeat and the running faucet in the tub.

One of Edward's hands continued to work through her hair while the other went to her shoulder. He skimmed the soft flesh with a fingertip before bringing his mouth down to tug away the fabric there. Bella wanted to push him away but could not summon the strength. It was too hard. She felt limp, lifeless. Later she would fight. This, his hands simply touching her, she could handle for now.

Both of those hands came down to her shoulders and with a loud rip, the fabric covering her body was gone. He gave a loud moan of approval, his eyes burning into hers. Strong arms went around her, lifting her off the vanity. He reluctantly freed one hand and placed it under the water to test for temperature. It seemed about right, though he could barely determine the difference between too hot or too cold. Satisfied, Edward deposited her in the bath before he turned the tap off, removed his clothes, and joined her.

She was scrubbing at her hands under the hot water when she felt his cold caress across her flushed body. He reached across her and grabbed a loofa resting on the side of the tub. He lathered it with soap squeezed from a bottle also next to the tub before motioning for her to stand.

She stood on shaky legs as he ran the soapy sponge down her back, across her behind, and down the backside of her legs before turning her around. Wordlessly he filled the sponge with soap again and proceeded to wash her with a gentleness that mystified her. Every time the soap washed into her open wounds she would whimper in throbbing agony and he would simply scrub firm circles into the marks to clean them.

When he did this to her wrist she shook, her knees collapsing under the pain and fatigue of the days past. He anchored her to him with one arm, allowing her head to rest on his bare shoulder as he continued to clean her wrist. He noticed that the skin there still was raw and inflamed. In the interest of keeping his pet alive as long as possible he would need to do something about that. Another bit of his venom would seal the wound – provided he didn't decide to take more blood from the spot.

He grinned at the memory of how sweet she tasted from that vein.

He lowered the girl down to the tub and cupped the water with his hands to pour into her hair. Bella reached for the shampoo and started to rub it into her thick hair but after a few moments Edward took over for her. Too tired to fight him, she permitted it.

The scratch of his nails on her scalp as he washed and rinsed were soothing despite their owner. Her eyes continued to droop in exhaustion, so he leaned over and pulled the plug in the tub. He picked up Bella and placed her on her feet on the bath mat. She swayed and almost fell, prompting him to put an arm around her hips. She barely made out the feel of the towel and the hardness of Edward's shoulder before she was drifting into sleep.

She awoke to the feeling of something wet and cold at her wrist. There was a tiny amount of tingling and then something was being wrapped around the area. As she became more aware she noticed the tingling feeling throughout her entire body. This had happened once before, back in her bedroom.

She started to get up but something pulled her back. She knew without looking it was Edward – he obviously stayed with her though the rest of the afternoon to make sure she didn't run. He maneuvered her in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Hello Isabella," he greeted her with a smile.

"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily. "I don't understand…why are you…again?"

His silent gaze held her mesmerized for a few seconds. She stubbornly refused to look away, hoping to decipher some sort of clue from his expression. Rather abruptly, his mouth was on hers.

As their lips touched, he licked and nipped at the seam of her mouth. Her bottom lip was still painfully sore to the touch but no longer bleeding out. When she did not comply with his advances, he nipped at her injured lip a bit more forcefully. She let out a small whimper of pain, allowing his tongue to slip inside her mouth.

Tentatively his tongue touched hers before it moved to lap at her lower lip. A strange sound was coming from his chest. It was that almost purr again. She could feel the steady vibrations in his throat from her proximity.

His hands skimmed her spine, his palm pressing for a moment to the small of her back before continuing its descent down to her hip. With ease he shifted them so he was on his back with her lying on top of him. When he had her settled exactly to his desires, he resumed his attentions to her mouth.

Throughout all of this, she was slowly coming back to full awareness. She started to pull back but he simply moved with her. When she brought her hands up to push him away he tugged her closer. Knowing she was about to fight with him, he pulled away after giving one long final lick across her injured lip and down her jaw.

"Why do you bother?" she demanded as she tried to pull back.

He refused to let her go and told her as much, adding, "I noticed you needed more of my help to heal."

"Why?" she said with a hysterical edge to her question. "Why? You are a murderer. I watched you…" She swallowed heavily before continuing, "You killed my dad…you didn't even give him a chance. You killed him. And left me…left me to clean up the…to clean up everything."

"I had to do it," he told her. "Charlie did not belong in our world. If I didn't eliminate him, someone else would. In our world we value keeping the secret above all else."

"In _our_ world?" she echoed in disbelief. "He had no idea what was going on! You manipulated him!" Her voice grew steadily louder as she pulled herself upward from his body. With a flush, she realized they were both nude. "You murdered him and forced me to watch it. Did you think it would make me more willing to go with you?" She started to punch his shoulder but he caught her wrist in midair.

"I wouldn't try to hit me. It would simply break your hand," he said. He guided her fist back to his shoulder before releasing it.

She ducked her head to try and hide the tears welling up in her eyes. "I hate you. I hate you so much."

He suppressed a growl at her words, instead guiding her chin up so that she was looking him in the eyes. "You may hate me, Isabella, but I am all you have in this world."

Her face crumpled at the cutting words. "Promise me," she said, voice wobbly, "that you will leave my mother and her husband alone. I will do anything to protect them."

"Your mother is in Phoenix, no?"

"She was. I'm not close to her," she said. A lie. "Since she remarried and I moved to Forks, she's been too busy to call."

He nodded, watching her expression for a moment. "She is out of my jurisdiction; therefore I will not harm her."

"Do I have your word on that?" It seemed so unrealistic that after Charlie's death he would give her this.

He paused for a second before giving his word. "Yes. With reservations. You may call but never see her in person again."

"What?" This time he permitted her to pull farther away. "I can never see my own mother?"

He stood, pulling Bella with him to the full-length mirror across the back of the door. His arms braced her up even as her knees wanted to give out. "You see it, Isabella? You've changed. Your mother would notice, which would prompt her to ask too many questions. Soon she would reach a conclusion that would touch too closely to the truth and she would meet the same fate as the late Chief."

Bella stared at her reflection, disbelieving of the way her body had indeed been altered. This past week had taken a toll on her, her skin sallower and pale. Fading bruises made patches of purples and yellows across her torso and arms. The bites on her body were healing much faster than in the previous days – most almost healed down to silvery arcs.

The only bites that seemed to struggle to heal were the ones at her wrist and lip, though both looked greatly improved from when she had looked at them last. She tried to get closer to the mirror, which Edward allowed.

She examined the scars closer, confused as to how they had healed so quickly. "What did you do?" she asked, whirling around.

"I gave you more of my venom. You were dying," he said matter-of-factly.

"You did this to me," she said. "You're the one killing me. It's your fault I can't see my mother again."

"Would you rather I go to Arizona and kill her?" he said coldly. "I can rescind my word if you'd like."

"No!" she cried. "Leave her out of this. She doesn't know anything about my time here in Forks."

He ran a cold hand down her back as she tried to calm herself. It took every ounce of her willpower to not snap at her captor. She took a shaky breath in and exhaled out in choppy waves. When he repeated the movement on her skin, she finally broke. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me again."

His hand stilled for a moment before it wrapped around her waist. "I can and will touch you whenever I please, little one." He spun her around so that her back pressed against the mirror, the slamming of the door behind it echoing through the cabin. "You forget: your life is in my hands. We are alone. There is no one to help you, no knight in shining armor out there searching to save you from the beasts that lurk in the dark."

She turned her face away from him, struggling against the truth of his words. There really was no one strong enough to help her. Her mind flitted to the others who were like Edward…the other Cullens. Carlisle had all but threatened her if she did not stay away from his family.

Edward had mentioned that he was going to pay his "father" a visit…perhaps she could sneak away then? It was doubtful any of the other vampires would pay attention to her in the inevitable argument. With her captor's explosive temper, there would undoubtedly be a scuffle and she could use the distraction to escape to a town.

It may be her only chance. She knew she had to attempt it despite Edward's previous threats to her life.

She could never return to Phoenix, as it would put Renee in danger. Instead she needed to go to a place with a lot of people. Somewhere she could blend in, perhaps have her scent masked by thousands of other smells. Los Angeles? Too close. He would find her in an instant. New York?

She paused, considering the sheer size of the city. It might be enough to delay him for a few weeks, especially if she kept moving. She could work odd jobs to make money and then plan on a permanent move across the world. The Western Hemisphere was out of consideration.

Her body slamming against the mirror again caused her to stop her internal planning.

"Did you hear me?" he demanded.

She shook her head, emitting a small squeak of fright. "N-no!"

He took a long lick of her throat, savoring the way the freshly washed skin tasted there. "Do I have your attention now, kitten?"

She carefully nodded.

"As much as it pains me to say it," he said as his eyes did a once-over of her nude form, "We need to dress." He grinned. "It's time to pay dear old Dad a visit."

He turned and walked them into a nearby closet, placing her feet on the floor. He pulled a men's sweater down as well as a pair of sweatpants and tossed them at her feet. Edward walked to the dresser at the back of the closet and opened a drawer to retrieve socks and undergarments for the both of them.

"Put them on," he said simply. She quietly muttered thanks before dressing quickly in the warm clothes. Everything hung off of her small body in awkward angles, even after she had tightened the sweatpants as far as they would go.

Edward also dressed in warm clothes – for appearance's sake. He grabbed a jacket for her from the neatly hanging rows of clothes, helping her put it on. She started to zip it up but was stopped midway by her captor's arms wrapping around her.

He rubbed his face into her neck, his breath cold as he exhaled over her jugular vein. "God, you look so good in my clothing. You smell delectable with my scent all over you. I need a taste." This last statement was punctuated with another firm lick over the vein.

She squirmed against his hold. Briefly she thought of fighting against him but knew it would lead to Edward taking more than she could handle. She had to be strong today to try to flee captivity. She took a deep breath in and exhaled carefully before consenting with a simple, "Okay."

She felt the familiar shape of his smile against her skin before he bit down over the large vein. _The pain never becomes any easier,_ she thought. The burning sting of his venom in the open wounds hurt more than usual despite her surrender.

He sucked on the open wound once, twice, three times before sealing the wound. After he caressed the bite a few times he continued to lick under her jaw, across her cheek, and then proceeded to full on kiss her.

She moaned helplessly at the forceful kiss. He always tasted of blood and sweetness, not at all what she was expecting. In the beginning she thought he would taste of the death he brought to everything he touched. Instead, his true nature was concealed.

Edward pulled back abruptly with a smile on his face. His dark eyes shone with appreciation for the creature before him. Today she had done him well, even with that mouth of hers. She was spirited… he would give her that. She was bending – he could see it with every moment that passed in his presence. Even the strongest boughs would break under enough pressure.

He never lost a battle of wills and he wasn't about to start now. After he killed his sire, he would make little Isabella his permanently.

Though he had used some of his venom to stop the bleeding, he noticed it continued to drip her precious blood. He watched the tiny droplets slide down the expanse of her throat and resisted the urge to gobble them up. Her blood had so much power over him yet she hardly realized it.

It would draw out Carlisle immediately. He could never stand to see any of these stupid cattle hurt or injured.

A pleasant bonus would be if Carlisle thought his prodigal son had returned to the fold. He thought of how much fun it would be to play along long enough to yank the old fool's head from his shoulders.

He glanced down at his pet. She looked a bit woozy from the feeding, so he gathered her into his arms. "Let's go pay Carlisle a visit, shall we?"

* * *

Hello lovelies.

Thanks so much for your patience. I send love and thanks to Octoberland for her valuable insight and input on this chapter. She's helped me through a lot of kinks in my writing. She actually wrote a companion piece to Lovegame entitled **Love is Not a Game**. Go check it out! She's a wonderfully talented writer.

I've had quite a few questions asked about the characters and the plot for this story. Please PM them to me on here and I will try and answer as many as I can in the next chapter's author's notes. I'm sure many of you are wondering the same things. If not, that's okay too. I will do my best.

As always, thank you for reading.

-moneybeet


	15. Chapter 15

It seemed she would always be cold.

They were moving through the woods again at an impossible speed toward wherever Carlisle and the other Cullens were keeping house. She only prayed that none of them were like Edward and if they were that they would drain her swiftly and without playing with her.

She held out a bit of hope that they would simply argue amongst themselves, leaving her free to leave.

Edward slowed, his nose in the air as he took in the scent of his former family. They were close. He only needed to provide them with incentive to come out and play.

The vampire placed Bella on her feet before pulling her close. "Come out, come out! I can smell you all over the trees here!"

The only response was the wind. He growled, a hand tightening in her jacket. "I guess they need a bit of an incentive, kitten." Without further warning, he bit directly through the borrowed coat and into her shoulder.

She howled in pain and tried to thrash away from him, causing his teeth to shred fabric and skin like paper. Her screams hurt his ears but he held fast to her. Bella was shaking in his arms as he removed his teeth from the jagged wounds. He pecked her lips to silence her, blood now staining her face as well as his.

She whimpered as the cold hit the fresh gashes.

A silent thump behind the two alerted them to a new presence. Edward turned, taking Bella with him. "Carlisle," he greeted frigidly. "How nice of you to join us."

There was a series of similar sounds as others joined the conversation. Three new vampires effectively surrounded them. She recognized them all as the two males from the chase in the woods and the doctor who visited her at home.

The doctor, Carlisle, stepped forward with a hand out. "Hello son," he said.

Edward spit at his feet. "Son? I am no child of yours. I am here to see why you've decided to interfere in my life."

"I admit, I visited the girl to provide medical care," Carlisle confessed. "She desperately needs medical attention, Edward," he attempted to inform the irate individual before them. "She will die without help. You need to let her go."

The words fueled the fires of his rage, causing a frenzied reply. "NO! Never!" He growled deeply, the expression touching the lowest parts of his vocal chords. "NEVER! She is only MINE!"

The group around them drew in closer to the enraged man and the girl enclosed in his arms. Edward gave another growl of warning as he heard their intention to strip her from his hold in their thoughts. "We just want to treat her wounds and then will return the girl to you," said the blonde vampire from their previous trip to the woods. He allowed a wave of calm to encompass the entire group, focusing especially on soothing Edward.

Red eyes went directly to Jasper's face, staring him down. "Quit it," said Edward coldly. "You can't possibly believe that would be enough to keep me from ripping your throat out."

"I'm not doing it for only you, Edward," retorted Jasper. "Look at the girl. She's terrified. All I can feel is her overwhelming fear and despair coupled with her hate for you." He paused, taking in more of the vulnerable girl's emotions. His golden eyes widened as he discerned the most powerful of the emotions coming through: sadness. Sadness shrouding something else, something she wanted to keep hidden – or perhaps didn't yet realize. That unnamed feeling was stronger now than it was last time. Interesting.

Edward had plucked the thoughts out of Jasper's mind without difficulty, wanting to understand exactly what his little toy was feeling. "I killed her father," he said, pride leaking into his voice.

When he offered no further information, his sire shook his head and stepped closer to the two in the middle of the circle. Edward gave a hiss, prompting Carlisle to growl back.

"Don't bother with one of your lectures about the sacredness of human life, Carlisle," Jasper cautioned before Edward could make a comment, "He's reveling in the satisfaction of killing the girl's father. It would be a waste of breath."

Carlisle waved a hand in a motion for the rest of the coven to halt their progression toward closing in on Edward. "Do you want to hear what happened when I went to see Bella?"

Edward snarled, lunging for his onetime father figure. Instantly Emmett was there with both arms banded around Edward's waist. Bella whimpered slightly as she was pushed to the forest floor.

"Let go of me, Emmett!" he demanded.

The much stronger vampire ignored Edward's request. Emmett glanced at the girl, taking in the swollen mass that once had been her lower lip, the freshly bleeding bite across her jugular, the bruises dotting her chin from where Edward had probably gripped her jaw. He could smell the onset of infection deep in the tissue of her black and blue wrist and the blood welling under the coating of venom. Edward's fresh release of her blood was nearly overwhelming to Emmett despite years of careful control.

As Emmett surveyed the girl, Edward tried to lunge for Bella. "You don't even get _to think_ about her!" he hissed, spittle spraying the air with the force of the words.

"All I can think about is how you're killing her!" retorted Emmett. He moved his large hands up to grip Edward tighter, yet the bronze haired vampire slipped from his hold.

"Dammit!"

Edward went directly to Bella's side, gathering her up. She whimpered when the quick movement jostled her injured shoulder. He ran his nose along the tattered flesh, inhaling deeply.

As Emmett observed their interaction, he barely managed to swallow an exclamation of surprise. She wanted _Edward_. What? _This entire situation,_ Emmett lamented, _is bizarre._

He was surprised to see Bella holding so tightly to her captor. She was gripping Edward's dark coat so hard her knuckles were straining against the fabric. Under his scrutiny she shifted, pressing her forehead into the wool as well. The fresh bite positioned on her shoulder caught his attention.

Edward's red eyes darted to Emmett, daring him to attempt to take Bella from him.

"We don't want to steal your pet," came a soft, almost motherly voice. The attention of the group, including Edward, focused on a beautiful woman with caramel colored hair. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, her features taking on beauty reminiscent of an old forties film star. Bella only took a glance before returning her face to Edward's jacket.

The woman took a step closer to Edward and Bella, reaching a hand out to him. "You should know we would never intervene in your affairs, Edward. The only issue the family takes with your behavior is the attention you must be drawing from the humans that surround her."

"The human who would have posed the greatest threat of exposing our secret is now dead," said Edward in the same cold voice. "Do you want to hear how I killed him, _Mother_?" The title was spoken with a particular disdain. When Esme didn't answer right away he continued. "He caught my little kitten here, completely bare, with me. We were…preoccupied…and I allowed him to catch us just so I could have an excuse to snap his neck." Bella let out a low wail, her body shaking under the force it took to hold back her sobs.

Jasper grimaced at the overwhelming grief emanating from the helpless girl in Edward's arms. Despite her reaction to the retelling of how Charlie died, Edward persisted. Jasper was horrified by the amount of pleasure and smugness his former brother felt at killing an innocent human man.

"He asked me what I was doing to his daughter, to which my lovely Isabella tried to warn him to stay away. Instead, he decided to try and tackle me," Edward paused to smile down at the girl. "When he charged me, I choked the life out of him until she pleaded for me to stop. And then I threw him down the stairs."

The sobs were too much for Bella to hold in any longer, crying and gasping as she tried to control her breathing through her tears. "Oh kitten, you should tell them the rest. I think the coven would be interested to hear the ending of the story from you."

Bella shook her head, too upset to even try and speak. Esme started to step toward Bella but was halted by a warning look from Edward. He leaned down and placed his chin on the top of Bella's head, hissing lowly, "Remember now that there is no one left to protect. You are mine and mine alone. I will not allow them to hurt you unless you disobey me."

She was silent, as was the rest of the group. Her shoulders shook as she tried to collect herself enough to tell the rest of the day's events to this group of strangers. She did not remove her face from Edward's coat as she spat out, "He told me to stay upstairs but I ignored him and went to check on Charlie. I wish I hadn't. He –" her voice broke at this point, tears soaking his chest.

She forced the sob down long enough to continue with, "H-he had broken my father's legs but that wasn't enough. Edward told me to move Dad's body into the kitchen and I refused, instead fighting him. He cornered me and -" She struggled with the urge to scream and cry as she considered what had happened, trying to simply last long enough to finish everything so they could leave her alone. "Edward forced me to drag Charlie's body into the kitchen. He tore off some of his limbs…. He said there was no need to waste and…he started…his blood… He drank all that he could. I was forced to watch!" She looked up at Jasper and Esme and the rest, horrified at confessing something so grizzly. "He forced me to watch as he drank my own father dry! As he yanked off an arm and one of his legs! I held his limbs in my arms, bloody and warm and partially crushed. Then Edward took the r-remains and left me. I don't know where my dad is! I don't even have the peace of knowing where he's buried!"

Bella broke down once more, crying pitifully. At this point she no longer cared about dignity. She only cared about living long enough to find a way out of this hellhole of an existence. Charlie no longer needed to be protected, which made her plan a lot easier to execute.

Since her original plan to run during Carlisle and Edward's confrontation had been foiled by the appearance of the rest of the Cullen coven, she would have to wait a bit longer.

When Edward left to feed she would disappear.

She had been considering for a while now the best method to escape him. All of her thoughts pointed to one particular advantage she held over him: his inability to read her mind. There were limitations, however. She would have to get far enough away to render his gift of seeing through other's thoughts useless. She would have to remain hidden, even after escaping to somewhere full of people. New York would still meet the criteria, and as she considered previously, she could work until she had the money to move somewhere farther.

The greatest challenge was the beginning of her plan: getting away without being stopped. She knew he was inhumanly fast and strong, that if she revealed any hint of departure to any living soul she would be found out. Somehow she had to find a faster vehicle than her truck – it was faithful but not nearly quick enough for her to make a getaway.

Bella figured she could steal her father's police cruiser but immediately scrapped the idea, as she no longer knew of its whereabouts. Plus she couldn't bear to be trapped in the same vehicle that had temporarily housed her father's body.

She wondered when and how she would discover exactly what Edward did with Charlie. The innocent people of Forks would no doubt be stunned when they discovered their chief of police had been murdered by an untraceable demon. They were isolated enough from real crime that his death would be unthinkable. Bella swallowed a bitter chuckle at the thought of Forks being harmless. She had watched her dad be killed in cold blood right before her eyes. She had endured physical and psychological torture at the hands of a madman. Her father was the head of the police, yet he had been unable to protect her or save himself.

The reminder that Charlie would never again be out in the community or come home from a long day of work brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. Every memory she had of her father, every recollection and happy thought went directly back to the way he died.

She could not even recall his smile without having it warp to the last moments of his life. She would think of Charlie happy and healthy, then suddenly he would be crying out, eye sockets and mouth smeared with blood. The sound of snapping bones and tendons being pulverized set her teeth on edge. Charlie's final cries were weak and piteous to her ears – unbefitting of a man who had always seemed tough and unbreakable to her.

Edward held her closer, restricting her attempts to move away from him as she was bombarded with the imagery of her father's arm, fingers still slightly flexing, leg away from its socket.

"She's going to be sick," commented Jasper with half-hearted interest. "She's disgusted with herself for allowing you to kill him."

He bent his neck and his forehead on hers, forcing her to look up at him again. "Enough, Isabella." Their eyes met and she tried to ignore his stare. He squeezed her tightly, almost to the point of pain. "Despite your attempts to save him, in the end you were fighting a losing battle. I would have killed him within the week."

Bella lost the battle with her nausea and started to fitfully dry heave. All she could see was Charlie's sprawling limbs and broken spine. All she could hear was the squelching of his bodily fluids under the soles of her feet as she tried to evade Edward in the kitchen. As he stood there, reminding her she was a monster too, she felt the world shift.

Something within her had changed in that moment.

As she recalled that particular feeling she began to laugh uncontrollably between heaves. Her stomach and chest ached, blood vessels popping in her already red eyes as she alternated between two emotional polar opposites.

Jasper glanced at Carlisle, both expressing concern at her outburst. Whatever their thoughts were on the subject, they prompted Edward make a menacing sound of discontent. Esme started to step toward Bella again but Edward only drew her closer to him.

A low moan of pain punctuated the end of her fitful laughter and her gagging. One of her hands went up to wipe the bile and spittle from her lips. Her captor leaned his head down again to whisper a soft, "Don't let any of them touch you, particularly _him_." Angry red eyes shot a dirty glare at Carlisle before he turned his mouth to nip at her ear.

"Edward, we aren't going to take her away from you," said Emmett in an attempt to cut though some of the tension.

Strain filled Edward's face at the words. He slid one hand upwards, drawing it from her waist up to rest under her chin, the path of his hand slow and indirect. His index finger stroked the pulse there, Bella stilled instantly.

"I still owe you for the last attempt you made to take her," he replied threateningly. His mouth replaced his finger over her pulse, placing a gentle kiss there. He looked up with only his eyes, taking in the expressions of his former family. Most were frozen in silent horror, their thoughts concerned over the spilling of human blood. He bore his teeth, a feral sound bubbling up in his chest as he carefully grazed them over Bella's thin skin.

She shuddered in his arms, one of her hands moving to hold his chin. Awed, the family watched as Bella infinitesimally pressed the delicate flesh of her neck closer to his mouth.

He did not outright bite her. Instead he gave the stretch of exposed skin a long lick, clearly marking her in front of the rest of the Cullens.

Emmett gave a snort of disgust at the motion. As though it wasn't already obvious that she was _his_ and _his only_.

Carlisle, who was glancing his former patient over, noticed something strange. He was surprised and confused by the numerous healed over bites. Had Edward used his venom to help heal Bella? Surely he understood that he could only patch her up for so long before she would succumb to illness or infection. As he was about to comment on the subject, Edward intervened.

In the blink of an eye, Edward was across the room and had pushed his sire to the ground. Edward snapped at Carlisle, their movements too rapid for her to follow. She saw a glint of sharp teeth and heard a hiss of pain as someone's teeth connected with flesh.

Bella shook as she watched the two. Who exactly did she want to win? Her teeth chattered and she felt her body starting to collapse with tremors.

Across from her, Emmett watched the girl crumple to the ground. He glanced at Edward, who was clearly preoccupied with Carlisle, before going to Bella's side. To Emmett's surprise Esme had the same idea. Jasper had gone to Carlisle's aid by sending a crippling wave of serenity directly to Edward.

"Stop it!" snarled Edward as he redirected his attention to the source of calm. His tiny lack of focus provided Carlisle with the upper hand, allowing him to pin his progeny to the ground. Edward thrashed against the hold of his sire, his mind reading talent providing little advantage against brute strength.

"Japer, help me with him!" said Carlisle, who was struggling to keep the angry vampire in his grasp. Quickly Jasper complied and placed a hand on Edward's exposed neck. His gift was far more powerful when conveyed through direct touch.

Jasper summoned a powerful wave of fatigue that nearly caused Edward's limbs to buckle under its force. He went limp, his head twisting back and forth to try and shake off the blonde vampire's hand from his flesh.

From her position just across from them, Bella tried to contain her surprise and her own desperate weakness. She tried to clench her jaw against the shaking but it only succeeded in making her whole head ache. "I-I don't know what's happening," she managed through clenched teeth.

Emmett kneeled at her side and hesitantly put a hand on her back. She cried out from the contact and moved as far away from Emmett as possible. "D-don't! I-I can't."

"She's having a panic attack," said Esme. "Probably going into shock as well. I wonder when the last time was that she had some rest and a meal."

"Not for a while, I'd guess," Emmett said as he continued to watch the girl on the ground. Like before, he unzipped his jacket and laid it over her. Bella looked up at him with frantic eyes. Emmett tried to give her a reassuring smile and calmly said, "You know, we've got to stop meeting like this, little one."

"S-stay away!"

From across the field Edward growled loudly at Emmett and tried to launch himself at the bigger vampire. Carlisle tightened his hold around Edward's middle, easily restraining him. The other vampires couldn't help but notice the oozing bite wound on their leader's neck.

_Oh Edward, _thought Emmett, _what's happened to you?_

"Nothing _has happened to me_, brother," he sneered from the cage of Carlisle's arms. "I've never been much for sharing."

Esme glanced at Carlisle, giving him a once over. She was grateful Edward hadn't bit him more than once. Though she knew the bite would heal, she also understood it had to hurt Carlisle more than he was letting on. She had never seen her oldest child behave this way. It was as though a bloodthirsty and rabid creature had simply consumed the Edward she had known for decades.

She reached one delicate hand down to smooth the girl's hair away from her face but it caused a chain reaction of events to occur: Bella cried out, Edward broke free of Carlisle's grip and started to pounce on Emmett and Esme, and Jasper intervened by tackling the rogue vampire to the ground.

Edward bit Jasper hard, cutting easily through the pale stone surface of his forearm.

Jasper instantly clamped his mouth roughly around where Edward's pulse should be. At the same time, he emitted a second thick wave of calm that surrounded each individual in the clearing. It did not help Edward, who continued to hiss and spit and snarl as he attempted to struggle out of Jasper's practiced arms.

Esme scowled at the feral creature trapped in Jasper's hold. "Stop it, Edward. That's more than enough. You know your precious human isn't going to come to any harm from anyone in this family."

"Should we destroy him?" Emmett asked almost eagerly. His attention shifted to Carlisle, whose gaze immediately went to a petite figure watching from the edge of the trees. She had been observing with a growing sense of horror and guilt. Never did she imagine that one tiny vision would be so horrifically misinterpreted. The broken girl in front of them was the obvious evidence of that.

"Hello Alice," Edward growled. "Welcome to the party."

Alice closed her eyes, using her gift to determine whether Edward's demise would be a beneficial move for her family. The outcome simply led to darkness, to despair and isolation for this human girl. The family would be left to pick up the pieces – forced to absorb Bella into their lives to protect her. As she knew the name Cullen, they too had targets on their backs for allowing her to share their secret.

As soon as she made that realization, she sensed a supreme amount of satisfaction coming from Edward. He had planned for this. Her eyes shot over to look at the trapped vampire. He was barely suppressing a grin. Before he could gloat, her attention shifted back to the rest of her family.

The petite vampire shook her head in the negative. "No. If we kill him, the outcome is unfavorable to us."

Carlisle studied Alice's expression for a moment before nodding in agreement. "If there's no gain to be found, then we will not kill him." The patriarch of the Cullen family raised a hand to cover his rapidly healing wound as he moved across the grass to stand in front of Jasper and Edward.

Edward continued to struggle, his fight increased at Carlisle's close proximity. "Let. Me. Go!"

"No." The older vampire's reply was cold. "At this time Edward, we will be taking the girl back to your cabin for 48 hours. After these 48 hours, she will be released back into your care. She needs time to recuperate or you will kill her. A dead human girl will only add suspicion to your name and draw attention to us. You must leave Forks after she is returned to you."

Edward's red eyes shot to the petite figure in the shadows of the trees, glaring at Alice. "You," he said darkly, "you are the cause of this. What happened to what you promised me? What happened to my _perfect future_?"

_It's subjective Edward, _she reminded him silently. _I can't control the path that you take just as I can't dictate outcomes. You know this. _

There was a pause in her mind as she tried to gather the strength to show him the vision she had of his future now: bleak and dark and above all, alone.

As soon as she summoned the appropriate memory she brought it to the forefront of her mind for him to watch. She saw a bloodied alleyway in a torrential downpour, Edward hunched over a human corpse. She saw Bella, red at her lips and shadows in her eyes. She saw the hint of insanity reflected in both of their gazes, how Bella would be devoured by guilt and pain. And eventually, she could discern Edward deep in the Olympic forest being chased by something she could not make out entirely. She saw the resolve on his face, the pain and acceptance there stripping away his false bravado.

Far down the line, she saw nothingness. It had all faded to black.

She tried to hide the shakiness in her voice as she provided directions to the rest of the coven. "Carlisle, you should take Bella to the cabin. Emmett and Jasper, you will need to keep a hold on Edward after you take him back to the basement."

Edward roared loudly over Alice's words. "When I escape, when you have a lapse in judgment, I will go and get her. After she is mine again, I will come and destroy all of you!"

Alice nodded. "Of that, I have no doubt."

Emmett did his best to ignore the shriek of fear from Bella as he scooped her into his arms. She was still shaking all over when he passed her to Carlisle. Carlisle frowned as he saw the mauled skin of her shoulder.

_She's going to need several stitches at least,_ he thought in frustration. At Alice's prompting, he had brought his medical bag out to the clearing with him. Holding Bella with one arm, he grabbed his bag with the other.

"The hell you will!" Edward shouted. "If you put a single stitch into her body I will rip it right back out! She is mine! MINE!"

"For 48 hours, Edward, she is _mine_," he shot back. "If you would like to see your pet again, you will allow her this time to heal. And when she is returned to you, you should take better care of her."

At this, Edward snarled loudly in irritation. Jasper bit him harshly to redirect his attention. Emmett grabbed the rogue vampire's legs and the two proceeded to take their former sibling back to the Cullen house.

Carlisle watched Bella's reaction as Edward went farther and farther out of her sight. Rather than the relief he expected to see, he instead saw fear. She was terrified.

"I won't hurt you, child," he tried to reassure her. At this, her face crumpled.

"Would you like some help?" Esme asked.

Carlisle frowned, shaking his head. "I would prefer for the girl to stay as far away from you and the rest of the coven as possible. There is a strong possibility that Edward will escape from his imprisonment and come to retrieve the human. I would like for you to be out of his crosshairs as long as possible."

Esme nodded, Bella watching her beautiful face with a mix of fear and curiosity. Esme saw the girl watching her and smiled as she leaned down. The female vampire smelled wonderful, like a hint of floral and cinnamon. "If you're smart, little girl, you will kill yourself before the two days are up," she whispered in Bella's ear, soft lips brushing against her skin.

Bella's face twisted into an expression of shock and horror. Both vampires ignored her reaction and simply went their separate ways. She closed her eyes against the cold of the breeze as Carlisle carried her back to Edward's cabin. How would she ever survive this? Could she survive this?

* * *

**Ka-pow. **

**Happy Happy Halloween, lovelies. As always, thanks for reading. Theories? Questions? Let me know!  
**

**A bazillion unicorns dancing on rainbows to Octoberland for her wonderful feedback and waving her beta wand to make this chapter infinitely better. **


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